Northwest ISD students returned to school Wednesday, but the district is still trying to give families some reassurance about two bullets that were found at a Northlake middle school.
In response to concerns about the bullets, Northwest ISD announced Tuesday it would be adding impact-resistant window film to all windows on the south side of newly-built Barksdale Middle School, where two bullets were discovered from May to July 2026.
According to a press release from the district, Texas law requires specific windows in a school to have impact-resistant material, but the district normally does not reveal which windows those are.
However, Northwest ISD Superintendent Dr. Mark Foust confirmed the district will be installing impact-resistant film on all south-facing windows of Barksdale Middle School that do not already contain it.
Foust also said the district will be contacting local property owners after hearing concerns about hunters in the area.
“In Texas, it is a crime for a person hunting or engaging in recreational shooting to fire a gun across property lines,” he said. “We are contacting local property owners to notify them that we will take appropriate legal means to hold accountable anyone shooting onto district property.”
The district discussed the possibility of hunters Tuesday, but its first actions after finding the two bullets were to submit a lawsuit against Quail Creek Shooting Range, where the district originally believed the bullets came from.
As of now, officials have not been able to confirm where the bullets originated.
However, a county judge granted the district a temporary restraining order Friday, which prevented the gun range from “allowing the discharge of a bullet from a firearm that can travel the distance to Barksdale Middle School until appropriate safety measures are implemented.”
Northwest ISD has been adamant that they are not trying to shut down the gun range, which has been around since 1980 and shares a property line with Barksdale Middle School in the Pecan Square community of Northlake.
“We want the gun range to meet the safety standards required by Texas law,” said Foust. “These are standards that protect all people and landowners, including homeowners, business owners and schools who exist in and around the master-planned development.”
According to court documents, there is a berm along the property line designed to stop bullets from leaving the premises, but the district said it appears patrons can still fire over the berm and strike the school.
Previous reporting shows NISD filed a police report when the first bullet struck the school’s exterior brick while construction crews were on site in May.
According to Northlake Mayor Brian Montini, the construction supervisor did not believe the shot originated from the gun range, and investigators were unable to identify its source.
When a second bullet was found on July 28 lodged in an exterior widow of the football stadium press box, the district reached out directly to Northlake PD, which then contacted the gun range owner.
District staff met with the owner of the range on July 30 about the safety concerns, however, NISD said the range has done nothing to increase safety measures, despite agreeing there could be more taken to prevent bullets from being fired over the berm.
Montini said the range is outside of Northlake town limits, so it is not under the town’s regulatory authority. However, Northlake PD, the Denton County Sheriff’s Department and Northwest ISD are all working together to investigate the incident.
Barksdale Middle School is Northwest ISD’s eighth middle school campus in the district and welcomed its first classes Wednesday.
“Thank you for your ongoing support of our school as we worked to quickly remedy this situation,” said Barksdale Middle School Principal Michelle Jennings in a statement. “I am eager to welcome our seventh- and eighth-graders… as we prepare for the start of the school year.”
A temporary injunction hearing is expected to take place later this month while the restraining order remains in place.
“Thank you to the families who reached out to share your concerns about the safety of students and staff at Barksdale Middle School as well as the safety of the community as a whole,” said Foust. “Though we are limited in comment because of this active litigation, we will continue working behind the scenes to support school and community safety.”
