HOUSTON — Reports of shots fired at James Madison High School in southwest Houston had some students and parents on edge Thursday morning.
Fortunately, it was only firecrackers.
Students were outside the school protesting alleged inappropriate behavior at the school between one or more HISD employees. It's not clear if any students were involved in the alleged sexually explicit conversation.
The campus is located in the 13700 block of White Heather Drive in southwest Houston.
Earlier in the morning, the students were huddled around a self-described education activist outside the school when a KHOU 11 News crew saw someone throw firecrackers into the crowd.
That is when a loud popping noise sent students running.
“I was on 288 and Beltway 8 going to work and I turned right back around and here I am for my kid. I just, I can’t understand what’s actually going on, especially the fireworks that people are shooting. It makes no sense at all,” Chris, a concerned parent, said.
Houston police rushed to the scene after at least one 911 call was made about shots fired at the school.
The students were protesting an alleged cover-up by school officials after an audio recording surfaced, supposedly with the voices of one or more HISD employees at the school having an explicit sexual conversation.
Right now, KHOU 11 News does not know the origin of that recording or if the conversation was about a student or another adult.
“That was an inappropriate conversation that was definitely had but it was not had about children. That conversation was had about adults in an adult manner,” Shawn Devaughn, another concerned parent, said.
Parents say if there is an issue on campus, they must be notified and it needs to be taken care of.
HISD said they have launched an investigation into the audio recording to determine who is on the recording, if it was even recorded at Madison High School and who the people on the recording are talking about.
Read the district’s full statement below.
“The Houston Independent School District has reviewed the recording that is circulating on social media. HISD is investigating this incident and has temporarily reassign the employees pending the outcome of the investigation. We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and will take appropriate action to ensure all of our students have access to a safe learning environment.”