Coweta stadium adds weapons screening gates

Call it a sign of the times, school officials in Coweta will test a new weapons detection system this Friday before a football game at East Coweta High School. As Fox 5's Doug Evans reports, this follows authorities finding guns at two Coweta schools in the last 18 months. When fans arrive at East Coweta's football stadium this Friday night, they can expect big changes in security. First, a clear bag policy. Second, a weapons detection center. Both are brand new. Both are the result of a gun found at this stadium at a football game last August. Carver school officials demonstrated the new system to Fox 5. Here's a simulated weapon. Here's the walkthrough of that new detector. All right, what happened? All right, so once he walked through the system and identified an area where we could see a possible weapon, based on the formula, it will resonate to show us that it could be. You can see here that on the left side, which is where he had the simulated weapon, it shows ferrous metal. And on the other side, where his phone was, it has mixed metal. Okay, so what does that tell you, that he's possibly armed? That is correct. So immediately we would have them go over to the secondary search. We have law enforcement. We would wave them, have them present, be able to do a secondary screening, locate the firearm, turn it over to law enforcement, and have that person removed from the event. Just last August, five men were arrested after a fight broke out here at the East Coweta High Stadium. One of the men was armed with a gun. The sheriff's office said at the time the deputies recovered that gun when it had fallen to the ground during the arrest. They charged one man with possession of the firearm, four others were charged in the fight. That prompted a lot of talk in the community and at the school system about the need for enhanced security. The rollout of this pilot program is a result of that. We want the community to come and feel safe and just be able to enjoy the game. So that's the reason we're doing this. So remember, clear bags and this weapons detection system in play at the East Coweta Northgate game this Friday night. Both of those schools here in Coweta County, so fans on both sides getting a taste of this new enhanced security. They say pack your patience because they only trained on this weapons detection system this week, so there could be long lines. But they say once you're inside the gate, enjoy the peace of mind of a safe event. I'm Doug Evans, Fox 5 News at East Coweta High School.