Guidepost seeks additional information

By Don Rush

The independent third party investigators looking into the Nov. 30, 2021 shooting at Oxford High School, Guidepost Solutions, are casting their net a little wider. They are enlarging the scope of their investigation to include more people as to what happened before and up to the shooting when four students, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, and Hana St. Juliana, were shot and killed, and six other students and one teacher were wounded.

“We’re looking for current or former employees and contractors of the Oxford school district who have information they believe we should know as part of our investigation,” Andrew O’Connell, Guidepost Solutions President said. “If they have not received word through formal channels – through the district – we want to hear from you. If you believe you have information we should know, we want it before we write our report. This is really more for the people who interacted with the students on a day-to-day basis. Not just teachers. People like bus drivers, maintenance workers, people who work in the kitchen.”

Guidepost was hired by Oxford Community Schools in July 2022 and was tasked with two objectives. One was to investigate, report and recommend on the district’s current threat assessment and safety protocols and procedures. That 179 page report was released on May 8. On May 11, the group hosted three town hall meetings to discuss the report and how the district currently operates.

The second task, the one the community has asked for since the shooting, is what happened before and leading up to the shooting.

In an email to the Leader, O’Connell wrote, “As we wind down our investigation, we would like to communicate with current and former Oxford School District employees and vendors/contractors, and Oxford community members, advising them that if they have any information that they believe Guidepost should know about the school shooting, or anything that preceded or followed the shooting, to please contact us.”

Guidepost is also seeking “any video that was taken inside or outside the school at the time of the shooting.”

There are three ways he said: by email to oxford@guidepostsolutions.com, by calling 202-499-4330, or by going to the website, https://guidepostsolutions.com/oxford-community-schools-board-of-education-independent-investigation and hitting the “contact us” tab.

Anonymous communications are welcome, he said, and communications can be confidential if requested and agreed to by Guidepost.

O’Connell would not speculate when the second report would be completed and released to the community.