Heavy police presence at school as Barrow County students return to class

BARROW COUNTY, Ga. — Some Barrow County students say it was emotional as they returned to school for the first time after the deadly shooting at Apalachee High School last week.

Some students at the county’s second high school said you could tell students still had what happened at Apalachee on their minds.

“Honestly it was kind of shaky. You could tell everyone is pretty scared,” Winder-Barrow High senior Noah Watkins told Channel 2′s Tom Jones.

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Watkins said the first day back at school after the Apalachee High School shooting was emotional for some students.

“You see girls, make-up, crying. Stuff like that. I mean it was. Everyone you could tell ain’t feeling right.”

Senior Emily Collum says some of her classmates didn’t feel safe. “There’s tons of kids that are still scared to come to school. And they’re just scared right now,” she said.

We saw a heavy police presence at the school.

There were two Winder police units circled the campus.

Georgia State Patrol had a unit drive by and park at the school.

Barrow County Sheriff’s Office had a deputy there.

Students said that was all in addition to school resource officers on campus.

Mental health counselors were on hand to offer assistance. “They are strongly saying if you need support come see us. Talk to a teacher and they will take us to counseling” Watkins pointed out.

Many students sounded off about new rules in light of what happened at Apalachee. “Well now they’re telling you, you should, whenever you are going somewhere go straight there. And try not to linger around,” senior Matthew Olaires said

“We have timed bathroom breaks. We have to have a pass around our neck,” Emily Collum explained.

“I get it. It just feels like we’re getting consequences for something we didn’t even do,” Watkins said.

The students know the new rules are nothing compared to the pain their neighbors at Apalachee are feeling.

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“My heart goes out for Apalachee and I pray for them,” Collum said.

Some students said it was too soon to return.

One student said it’s going to take a while before everything returns to normal here.

The Barrow County School System hasn’t announced when Apalachee High classes will resume.

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‘I will live in fear:’ Students concerned about returning to Apalachee High after school shooting

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