Winston Salem Times

Winston-Salem Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough Jr. is urging schools to use school resource officers, or SROs, to help prevent school shootings.

Kimbrough was among local officials who attended a Wednesday town hall for people to discuss what could be done to stop tragedies like Tuesday’s mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which killed 21 people, including 19 children.

"We need SROs in every school in this county,” Kimbrough said, according to a report by WFMY.

Many of the citizens who attended had lost family members to gun violence, though not necessarily in mass shootings at a public place, WFMY reported.

"I am willing to give up what I've got to make this work, but I need y'all to put pressure on where it needs to be put,” Kimbrough said. “The pressure doesn't need to be on us; it needs to be on the people who control the money."

Law enforcement officers said violence among teens has been at an all-time high in the 2021-22 school year and District Attorney, Jim O’Neill, said more must be done to protect youth outside of school.

"There's not a person up on this panel that would disagree with me on this, he said. “We are all worried about the summer.”