‘I got them’: Father stands guard at child’s, wife’s elementary school

KILLEEN, Texas — A father in Killeen, Texas, wasn’t going to take any chances for the final days at the elementary school where his child attends and his wife is an employee after the attack at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

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Eddie Chelby is trained for the job of standing watch.

“I just felt compelled with my training. I’m a seasoned security professional and I was available and I just thought I can’t sleep. Not being able to do something like this,” he told KWKT.

Chelby emailed Killeen Independent School District Superintendent Dr. John Craft, asking if he could take a post and guard Saegert Elementary School for its last two days of the school year.

“I humbly request to provide security services unarmed. I’ll be just in front of the school. I don’t wish to enter the school but I just want to be there for my kids. I want to be there for my wife, who is also an employee at that school,” Chelby told KWKT.

Along with his security experience, Chelby served the U.S. Army for 11 years, KWTX reported.

He had already filled out the volunteer paperwork and was in the process of having his background checked but the school district gave him permission.

Chelby stood unarmed, making sure that people who were on the school campus should be there, KWTX reported.

Not only did it help him make sure he was able to do something, he also helped ease the fears of other parents.

“I had a lot of emotional people come up to me. They didn’t want to send their kids to school. They struggled with sending their kids to school and I told them, I was like, ‘I got them,’” Chelby told KWTX.

Chelby wasn’t alone either as he stood his watch. Another parent, a mother named Constance, told him “I got your back” and she stood, guarding the back of the school.

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