Woman Says Students Should Carry Door Stops in Their Backpacks to Slow Down School Shooters

Woman Says Students Should Carry Door Stops in Their Backpacks to Slow Down School Shooters
John Smithies
2/20/2018
Updated:
9/26/2019

A woman’s advice to parents on how their children can try and stop shooters at school has gone viral.

Katie Cornelis from Connecticut wrote on Facebook that she took the unusual approach of giving doorstops to her two nieces following the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012.

She wrote that a security expert had shared the tip with her so she wanted to pass it on.

“Sure it’s small, but it can be powerful in keeping you safe if you ever have to barricade yourself in a room,” she wrote.

“If a gunman shoots out the door lock it will still keep the door from opening and may just buy you some time.”

She added that she always carries one herself in her purse and that “in light of the recent shooting,” she wanted to “share this with all parents.”

“I pray no one ever has to use it,” she wrote.

The post was written a day after the recent Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and has been shared by more than 1.3 million people.

One person commented, “I hope some people with positions to make it happen in schools ... see this and invest in the $2 per, or less probably when bought in bulk, and put 1 or 2 in each classroom throughout schools in every state.”

Another said, “I’m thinking about maybe getting some and donating them to a few schools in the area.”

The post comes after high school shooter Nikolas Cruz was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder over the shooting in Parkland, Florida, on Wednesday, Feb. 14.

Cruz could willing plead guilty in the massacre if the death penalty is not considered as an option, his lawyer said on Friday, Feb. 16.

Broward County Public Defender Howard Finkelstein, who is representing Cruz, said the 19-year-old was deeply troubled and suffered from a lot of emotional trauma.