‘This feels like the next best thing’

Oxford faculty learn how to react during active shooter drills

OXFORD >> Oxford Area School District faculty recently participated in an active shooter drill during a professional in-service day, learning what to do and how to react.

They participated in three scenarios that they saw from different angles. In one case, the suspect was in the same classroom as them, in another he attempted to enter the classroom and another time he successfully entered the classroom.

“I think it was valuable for us to experience a simulation,” Oxford High School teacher Chris Pierdomencio said. “You can never be fully prepared; this feels like the next best thing.”

In the first scenario, he said he didn’t react the way he thought he expected. Two Oxford police officers portrayed students arguing in a classroom and one of them pulled out a fake knife and simulated that he was stabbing the other student.

“It’s hard to know where to go from shock,” Pierdomencio said.

With guidance from Oxford

Training Officer Chris Coverly, a few teachers assisted the injured student, portrayed by a police officer, while a few other teachers pushed a table in front of the doors. They checked to see where the suspect went and then many of the teachers agreed they needed to exit the building. By doing so, the scenario ended.

“I feel like I have a lot to learn,” Pierdomencio said, “but common sense is valuable tool as well.”

He said teachers all over the world think about the possibility of something happening in school and hear about school shootings in the news.

“I pray it never happens here,” Pierdomencio said. “Being a teacher, there’s a part of you that has this in the back of your mind.”

Assistant Principal Dana Douglas agreed with Oxford Officer Pedro Melendez, who she said “summed it up the best because we need to think this through. If you don’t practice it, you don’t know what to do.”

The staff members learned about making decisions and getting out of a natural reaction to freeze in place.

This is the first time the Oxford Area School District held training where teachers physically participated in scenarios. In the past, speakers have presented to the staff. She described this training as a “nice building block to help us learn without it being in the middle of an emergency situation.” It also helps the administration to think about what steps the staff needs to take in various situations and the level of communication that would be required.

Melendez and Coverly explained the drill prepared them to react and make the best decision in the moment.

“Decisions are what keep people alive,” Coverly said to the teachers prior to the start of the drill. “If you freeze up and do not make a decision, people will get hurt, students could get hurt, you could get hurt.”

Melendez added that people could run, hide, or fight. The teachers were encouraged to think about safe places to hide children in their classroom and other areas in the school.

“Everyone is going to react differently. The reason for this training is just that – it’s so that you see how you personally react,” Melendez said. “People can say I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that. Without training, you’ll panic, you’ll freeze. You’ll say, ‘yeah I’m going to fight, I’m going to hit him with this’ … that person could be standing right in front of you, what are you going to do?”

Melendez answered that they would freeze otherwise, and this training helps instill in the staff members to react. He quoted former boxer Mike Tyson who said that “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Melendez explained that the staff members may have a plan, but they won’t react without first being trained.

“You have to do what you have to do to survive. That means you and your kids,” Melendez said. “If you have to break a window to get out, you break a window. That’s something you need to think about.”

He also encouraged them to “use what you have in the classroom.” The teachers barricaded the classroom door with the desks, and they prepared to throw textbooks if the suspect entered the classroom. Several teachers even picked up other objects in the classroom and stood near the door to fight the intruder, while others grabbed something to protect themselves with and exited the building through a back door.

Mayor Lorraine Bell attended the sessions and said she noticed the different reactions by staff members in each of the Oxford schools. She said the training teaches the teachers and administrators to “know the best way to react because you’re constantly in charge of students’ lives.” Bell, along with the Oxford officers, encouraged the staff to do their best to protect the kids.

“It’s important to have your teachers feel empowered to make a decision,” Bell said.

Oxford police shared the following statistics with the teachers: the FBI conducted a study of 160 shootings that occurred from 2000-2014 and announced that 486 people were killed and another 557 were injured. Of those shootings, 107 ended prior to police arrival. In these incidents, the shootings ended in various ways, including when citizens intervened, the shooter fled, the suspect committed suicide or were killed by someone at the scene. The average police response is about five to six minutes and up to four minutes to locate the threat.

GINGER RAE DUNBAR – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Oxford High School teachers barricade the entrance to the classroom with desks during an active shooter drill.

GINGER RAE DUNBAR – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Oxford High School faculty communicate over the radio during an active shooter drill and prepare to block off a door.

GINGER RAE DUNBAR – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA An Oxford police officer who portrays the suspect during an active shooter drill enters the classroom with a fake knife while teachers exit through a back door.

GINGER RAE DUNBAR – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA An Oxford High School teacher grabs a textbook and waits to see if a suspect will enter the classroom during the active shooter drill.