Drive-By Shooting at School Prompts Meeting on Safety

More than 200 people packed a meeting room in the Veterans Memorial Building to discuss safety issues in the wake of a drive-by shooting at Culver City High School.

Several times during the two-hour meeting Wednesday night, moderator Gerald Kominski appealed for calm as parents hurled accusations at school officials.

Although police insisted that the April 22 shooting that wounded two former students was a random act of violence, many residents said school officials were not doing enough to improve security and truancy problems on the 1,700-student campus.

“This is an ongoing problem,” said Titiana Nagy, who said her 12-year-old son was robbed at gunpoint while walking home from the school last month.

Another resident who lives near the school said that students loiter in the alley next to her house during school hours and once lit her trash on fire.

School board members said they would discuss specific suggestions offered by the crowd--including the installation of video cameras on school grounds, hiring more security officers, closing the campus and using uniforms--when the board meets next Tuesday.

“We do not have enough security on our campuses,” said school board member Barbara Honig, who encouraged parents to become more involved in their children’s education by attending PTA and school board meetings.

Meanwhile, the Culver City Police Department pledged to patrol the high school grounds one hour before classes start and one hour after they are completed.