GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Students are headed back to Alger Middle School in Grand Rapids on Thursday after Tuesday's shooting next to campus that left one student hurt.
That student, a 13-year-old is stable in the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery after being shot in the cheek.
As students enter the building, they'll notice more preventative measures are in place.
Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) told FOX 17 metal detectors would be at both entrances of the middle school for the remainder of the school year. Students will also be filtered in through specific doors based on their arrival.
In a letter to families, teachers and faculty, GRPS Superintendent Dr. Leadriane Roby says the district also plans to have crisis experts on-hand for kids to talk to.
The shooting happened during school hours inside a bathroom at Alger Park, just steps away from the school.
The investigation by the Grand Rapids Police Department continues, but there is still quite a bit unknown.
The district has confirmed two eighth grade students were involved, but it has not been able to answer what the boys were doing out of class or where the gun came from.
The victim's mother told FOX 17 on Wednesday that she's lost faith in the school's ability to keep student's safe.
"It should have been no reason why those two young men was outside in that bathroom anyways," said Bianca Bridgeforth, the injured boy's mother. "He has bullet fragments around his eye. He also has bleeding. We hope the bleeding stops that's going towards his brain," she said.
Bridgeforth also said her son told her the shooting was an accident, and she believes him.
If you'd like to hear the mother's full, unedited interview, click here.
Grand Rapids Police says the investigation continues and nobody has been charged with a crime at this time.
As with any investigation involving injury or a handgun, the case will be reviewed by the prosecutor's office.
