OHIO, USA — An Ohio high school student was honored for his efforts in preventing a potential shooting at his school earlier this year.
Casey Orloski received the first-ever recipient of the Safety Stand Out Award through the Ohio Student Safety Advisory Council and Gov. Mike DeWine. He also received the National Student Hero Award from the Uvalde Foundation for Kids.
Orloski received the awards during the Ohio School Safety Summit on Tuesday.
"We couldn't be more thrilled for Casey. We think what he did that day is both heroic and it shows that it does work when a student sees something suspicious and reports it to the right people," said Chester Township Police Chief Craig Young.
His recognition comes after Orloski told school administration that he had found a 9 mm bullet in the men’s restroom at West Geauga High School in April.
After being notified, the school resource officer and school administrators began to review video surveillance to determine where the bullet came from.
Administrators interviewed 20 students and were able to identify the student responsible. The student, 18-year-old Brandon Morrissette, reportedly admitted to devising a “plan to shoot multiple students” at the high school.
Morrissette was indicted on charges of attempted aggravated murder, illegal possession of a deadly weapon and inducing panic. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
"These awards are not won. There are no winners. I wish for the day when these awards are no longer handed out when we can all go to school without the constant threat of violence or bullying and just learn or teach like we're supposed to,” Orloski said during the summit.
