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Parent asks council to designate Darlington Avenue a school zone and reinstate ShotSpotter notifications
Summary
Heather Henson of Children’s Courtyard of Wilmington North asked the council to designate Darlington Avenue a school zone and to reestablish a process to notify nearby childcare providers when ShotSpotter detects gunfire, citing multiple lockdowns and an October 21 incident where a suspect jumped the preschool playground fence.
Heather Henson, speaking for the Children’s Courtyard of Wilmington North, asked the council to formally designate the stretch of Darlington Avenue in front of her child care center as an official school zone and to re‑implement a notification process tied to ShotSpotter alerts so that staff can promptly secure children when gunfire is detected nearby.
“We rely on timely and accurate information to keep our families safe,” Henson said. She described multiple recent incidents and said that on October 21 a perpetrator jumped the playground fence while trying to evade police. Henson asked for three measures: school‑zone designation, ShotSpotter notification to the center, and increased police presence as needed.
Council members and staff discussed practical constraints. One council member noted law‑enforcement concerns about publicizing ShotSpotter sensor locations; another said designating the road a school zone could enable different enforcement options and would be a first step toward additional protections. Staff indicated someone would follow up with the preschool to explore feasible notification options and the pathway for a school‑zone designation.
The council did not take immediate action on Henson’s requests but directed staff to follow up and to work with the police department on options to improve safety and communications.
