KENOSHA, Wis. — The safety committee at the Kenosha Unified School District is pushing for the use of metal detectors and reasonable student searches at district schools during a meeting that comes after two gun-related incidents at Bradford High School in the last two days.
Watch: KUSD safety committee, parent call for stronger measures after gun incidents
According to the Kenosha Police Department, at about 10:30 a.m. Thursday, officers arrested a 15-year-old male student at Bradford High School. When searched, officers located multiple firearm magazines and ammunition in the student’s possession.
Just a day earlier, Wednesday, a 16-year-old student was arrested after bringing a loaded gun into Bradford High School.
Michelle Sheely, a Bradford High School parent, says the incidents have left her fearful for her son’s safety.
“I feel like if I am sending my kid into school, I’m sending him into danger. That’s exactly what I feel like right now. This is really scary. If guns — loaded guns — can get into the schools, and magazines and ammunition can get in the schools, what else is going in there?” said Sheely.
Sheely’s son is a sophomore at Bradford High School, and she’s advocating for more safety in schools. She attended the committee meeting where members discussed a new safety policy that would allow: "administrators and deans to use metal detectors to aid in searches of students when there is reasonable suspicion of a weapon." The policy considered hand-held and walk-through metal detectors.
Members said the proposed policy is laying the groundwork for change.
For Sheely, the goal is even broader. She hopes all students will be screened every day.
“Do you want them to be safe? Do you want them to come home? Because we are looking at a reality where they might not,” said Sheely.
The most recent gun incidents follow a series of others in Kenosha. In November 2024, a 13-year-old was arrested after bringing an airsoft gun into Roosevelt Elementary School. The following month, a student brought a gun inside Indian Trail School.
Last week, 16-year-old Isiah Cooper, a Bradford student, was shot and killed in Kenosha, off school grounds.
Feedback from the committee will be shared with the board at its Feb. 24, 2026, regular school board meeting.
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