ROANOKE, Va- – Parents in southwest Roanoke are reacting to the nightmare.
They say they believe their children are safe in their classrooms but another school shooting definitely has them concerned.
Parents like Ashli Sheider are giving their children some extra love after hearing the news or seeing the events unfold on television.
"It's scary. I had to give him a little extra hug this morning. It's rough," said Sheider.
Becky Townley is mother to a 4-year-old son.
"I know that one day he may have to face a situation like that. I was hugging my son on the couch yesterday when I went through and rewatched it," said Townley
A 19-year-old former student opened fired inside Stoneman Douglas High School after pulling the fire alarm.
17 people, including students, faculty and staff, were killed. This is the 18th school shooting this year.
Parents say something needs to change soon.
WSLS 10 reached out to several school district across our region.
Roanoke City Schools is looking to bring back a nationally known expert on school security.
Superintendent of Roanoke City Schools Rita Bishop says they were already getting ready to re-evaluate their schools' safety plans before the deadly shooting in Florida. A lot of those plans she couldn't discuss publicly but she did confirm she's looking at changing how they perform fire drills.
"This is the unimaginable. And I am really tired of us this happening over and over again. And my biggest fear is that we're getting accustomed to it. These are our children we must protect. In terms of Roanoke City Schools, the school board's first priority is safety," said Bishop.
Dr. Bishop says people should not become numb to any of these events but be proactive in making a change for the better.
Unfortunately is not going to change until we the adults and the parents stand up and say OK, this is enough. We're not doing this anymore," said Townley.
Bishop sent out a robocall to parents this evening about her thoughts about the tragic shooting. This is something they've done since the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in 2012.