ST PAUL, Minn. — The 15-year-old boy who was stabbed and killed at Harding High School in St. Paul was identified by the medical examiner Monday afternoon, as district officials moved to make students safer in the short term.
Superintendent Joe Gothard addressed the short-term security changes during a press conference Tuesday, which include stationing extra police officers outside five district high schools.
The Saint Paul Police Department wrote in a tweet that the Ramsey County Medical Examiner identified Devin Scott, 15, of St. Paul, as the student who was allegedly killed by another student at school Friday.
The suspect, a 16-year-old boy, was taken into custody the day of the incident, and police say they're still trying to determine what led up to the deadly encounter.
Also on Monday, as classes were canceled for the day at Harding, Saint Paul Public Schools sent a letter to SPPS staff explaining new measures the district will take in the "short-term" to address security concerns at the district's "largest high schools that have experienced traumatic events."
"Dear SPPS Staff,
In partnership with the Saint Paul Police Department, SPPS is announcing immediate, short-term security measures for some of our largest high schools that have recently experienced traumatic events at or near their campuses.
The following measures are being implemented starting today:
● A third full-time School Support Liaison is being added to the existing security team at Harding.
● At Superintendent Gothard’s request, SPPD has placed two officers at each of the following schools on a short-term basis: Central, Como Park, Harding, Humboldt and Washington.
- These officers will work closely with each school’s administration and security teams and remain on-site outside the school as an immediate resource.
- Each officer was carefully selected for their previous work with youth and knowledge of the issues impacting our community.
- They may be familiar faces to some of our staff and students.
While these five schools are getting these resources now, this is a fluid situation and we have the ability to make adjustments as needed. We are working closely with SPPD to determine what the longer-term plans could look like.
If you have any questions or concerns about safety at your school, please work with your administrator and school safety team and report them to the SPPS Emergency Communications Center. Answers to frequently asked questions are available on the SEM website. You can also submit an anonymous tip anytime using the Send a Tip feature and it will be acted on right away."
A Saint Paul Police spokesperson said that some of the officers assigned outside of the five high schools will be former School Resource Officers (SROs) since they are familiar with the students and the way the school buildings operate. However, they will not work in a traditional SRO role inside the actual school, according to SPPD. The school board cut SROs from all high schools in June 2020 following the death of George Floyd. Some students and community members argued the money spent on SROs, a budgeted $700,000 per year, could be better spent elsewhere. School board director Chauntyll Allen agreed, saying that the presence of a badge and gun make some students uneasy.
Neither the district nor the board has said whether they're considering reinstituting School Resource Officers.
Leah VanDassor, the president of the Saint Paul Federation of Educators, did not explicitly support or oppose the idea of permanent SROs returning to school buildings.
"There's been a longstanding decision, since the death of George Floyd, that we were going to remove armed personnel from our buildings. I think that's going to have to be continued to be discussed," VanDassor said.
During a news conference with media before a 6 p.m. candlelight vigil on Monday, VanDassor called on the district to invest further in early intervention programs, restorative practices and mental health supports. Discussions about mental health supports and staffing were a major sticking point during union contract negotiations last year.
"The things we need to move forward on are long-term solutions," VanDassor said. "There's no real short-term answer that's going to fix things right away."
In a video message posted to the district's YouTube page Friday evening, St. Paul Superintendent Joe Gothard said, "Our kids are hurting."
"My plea to our entire community right now is that we are not okay. Our kids are not okay," Gothard said. "As evident by this event, has also been marked by other incidents throughout our city, whether it's in our schools or in our community that tells us that our kids are hurting, our staff are struggling to support them and know what to do. This is a time for us once again to come together, to work together, to make sure that we're supporting everyone in coming through these times of great grief and great tragedy as we move forward together."
Other incidents involving guns have been reported at Harding High School in recent years. In April 2022, a 16-year-old student was charged in juvenile court for allegedly bringing a gun into the building. In that case, officers were able to remove and secure the gun, which police said was reported stolen out of St. Paul.
That same month, parents and students were unnerved by an incident that was recorded in the bathroom and shared on social media. The weapon seen on tape ended up being a BB gun, and police are investigating that incident as an armed robbery.
And in Nov. 2021, a boy in the school was seen showing off a loaded gun.
"There's like four gun incidents and now this stabbing," a mother waiting to pick up her child said outside Harding High School Friday. "And they haven't been doing nothing. It's a shame it had to come to this."
Madison Hand, a junior at Harding, called on the district to reinstate school resource officers, which the school board cut across all high schools in 2020.
"I'm walking into that school every day knowing there's a chance my life, and other people's lives, could be on the line," Hand said. "In my opinion, I believe there need to be SROs (school resource officers) and metal detectors. This could have all been stopped and prevented."
Hours before SPPS announced the new security measures, community activist groups gathered outside Harding. Lion of Judah Armed Forces, 8218 Truce Center, and A Mother's Love Initiative called for not only security guards but also metal detectors at school entrances. The groups also asked for youth programming and to allow activists into schools to mentor youth, even if mentors have a criminal background.
"They have the experience," 8218 Truce Center founder Miki Truce said. "They have the understanding of what some of these kids are going through."
"We continue to see our children's safety at risk," Lion of Judah Armed Forces president added. "If you don't make sure safety is in place for our children, another child will be injured or murdered on school property."
Lisa Clemons, CEO of A Mother's Love Initiative, also emphasized the need for parents to meet and talk.
"I don't think the school should reopen until parents are brought into a room to have the real conversation about what our kids - when I talk about our, I don't have any shame about saying Black kids - we need parents up close and in this space to talk about what we are going to do," Clemons said.
Over the weekend, Teamsters Local 320, a union for public and law enforcement employees, also called on school and elected leadership to make students and staff feel safe.
"A mother lost her son and we are all in a state of shock and grief," the union said in a press release, adding that the victim's mother is a member.
A vigil was held for the community Monday night outside Harding High School.
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