‘It’s a tragedy’: shooting near Westinghouse Academy still on mind of PPS superintendent

PITTSBURGH — Two weeks after four Pittsburgh Public School students were shot near Westinghouse Academy, Superintendent Dr. Wayne Walters said safety is his number one priority, with learning being second.

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“Of course, the first thing I think about – student safety, staff safety, who is impacted. Fortunately, there were no fatalities,” Walters said.

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Pittsburgh police said three boys and a girl were shot in Homewood West, shortly after dismissal on Feb. 14 and were all expected to survive. Channel 11 checked in with Pittsburgh Police, who said as of Tuesday afternoon, there were no new updates with the investigation; no suspects identified and no arrests. We caught up with Dr. Walters at Banksville Elementary School, who pointed out that while the shooting did not happen on school property, it hit too close to home.

“We provide a lot of things in Pittsburgh Public Schools, but we do not provide guns. That seems to be a challenge in our communities – young people getting access to guns,” Walters said.

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We asked Dr. Walters what the Pittsburgh Public School system is doing to make sure students are not bringing guns to school.

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“We have our code of student conduct. We encourage students, you know, in what’s appropriate behavior in a school,” Walters said.

He praised the overwhelming majority of students, who he said are doing the right things.

“So, I want to provide that counter-narrative that it is a small minority of students that engage in this war, and I wish we would just share the good news and the great things about Pittsburgh Public Schools, but more importantly, our great students,” Walters said.

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