A deadly shooting this Monday at the entrance to a private school in the densely populated district of Guachipelin, Escazú to the west of San José, Costa Rica, has safety officials scrambling to increase security measures at schools throughout the country.

Thursday, May 18, Minister of Public Security Gustavo Mata, said such an incident should never happen again in Costa Rica, and to this end issued a directive to the director general of police, Commissioner Juan José Andrade, calling for police chiefs throughout the country meet with heads of all private schools in their regions, according to information from the ministry.

“The guideline is directed at the entire country to summon all principals of private schools, colleges and universities to discuss methods of common protocols and good safety practices, as well as preventive issues and policies on knowing one’s customers. The meetings will be held in each region of the country,” added Minister Mata, who said increased communication between educational centers and police was important for prevention and student safety.

Regional police chiefs will serve as the headquarter’s link with each of the educational centers, and will have the obligation to convene and meet with educational representatives, said the ministry, who said they would encourage schools to take steps to better know the families who are members of their institutions.

“While we don’t want to invade people’s privacy, there is a need to know about one’s clients, to be able to prevent situations such as the one on Monday which present a danger to other students,” said Mata in a public statement.

A student at Mount View school where the shooting took place was injured by a stray bullet in the Monday morning shooting in which two men were killed.

The Minister will meet with private school directors in San José in the upcoming days, and said he would be attending some of the regional meetings as well.

Mata said he requested that within 30 days all police chiefs hold such meetings, so that increased preventive steps can be implemented immediately. He said the ministry, while unable to provide police presence at the country’s private schools, can guide schools as to the best way to provide security at their institution and the number of guards required.