False alarm triggers school lockdown
Deputies at Fouke schools believed active shooter alert was real; sheriff not warned of test
A false “active shooter” alarm at Fouke, Ark., schools was sent to teachers and law enforcement Thursday.
The alert led teachers to implement lockdown protocol, and two deputy sheriffs on the elementary and high school campuses believed an armed threat was present, according to officials.
Fouke School District Superintendent Forrest Mulkey described the false alarm as “good intentions gone bad.”
The active shooter alert was automatically sent when district School Resource Officer Justin Peterson, who also serves as Fouke’s city marshal, attempted to test the signal on the district’s new Rave Panic Button, a smartphone app meant to quickly connect schools with help and information in an emergency, said Mulkey and Fouke Mayor Terry Purvis.
Arkansas requires that all schools in the state be equipped with the technology by Sept. 1. Purvis said Peterson thought he was testing the system’s signal by sending an alarm to dispatch only. But when Peterson tapped the “active shooter” button on his cellphone, alerts and notifications were sent to teachers and law enforcement, as well.
At 8:08 a.m. Thursday, Peterson called emergency dispatch in Miller County and said he was going to, “test a panic button,” Miller County Sheriff Ron Stovall said. Stovall said dispatch records show Peterson called back about a minn
ute later and said only that the panic button is working. Stovall said his office was not informed in advance of Peterson’s plan to test the system and is concerned that such a false alarm endangers lives.
“It is ill-advised to conduct a drill of that magnitude without notification of law enforcement and first responders,” Stovall said.
Purvis described Peterson’s actions as a “test, not a drill.”
Miller County is no longer responding to radio calls from Peterson because of the false alarm.
Purvis said he is concerned that barring Peterson from the use of his radio could cause problems, although Peterson and anyone else can pick up a phone and dial 911 if there is an emergency.
“We’re very sorry it happened the way it did. He (Peterson) thought it was only going to dispatch,” Purvis said. “But the school has been under the gun to get this (Rave Panic Button system) in by next Tuesday.”
Peterson did not respond to a message from the Gazette left Friday on his voicemail at Fouke High School.
Stovall said his office has told Purvis twice that if the city or school district wants to conduct a drill, they must coordinate with his office, emergency medical personnel and other relevant agencies.
A letter to parents dated Aug. 25 on Fouke School District’s Website includes information about “active-shooter training” planned for 1 p.m. Sept. 16. The letter is signed by Mulkey and the high school’s principal, Ronny Herron. According to the letter, the training is, “in conjunction with the city of Fouke, Ark., Fouke Police Department, Miller County Sheriff’s Office, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Arkansas Highway Patrol (and) Texarkana, Ark. and Texas, police departments.”
Stovall said his office has not been contacted about a Sept. 16 drill and learned of the letter to parents Friday.
Mulkey and Purvis said the security of students and school district staff is always a concern.
“We’re just trying to make our schools as safe as possible,” Mulkey said. “We were able to let everyone know within about 10 or 15 minutes that this was a drill.”
After Thursday’s false alarm, the school district initiated an “all call” to parents and teachers informing them that a panic button had been tested that morning, Purvis said.
Mulkey said that while the active-shooter alert surely alarmed those who received the notification, some good has come from the experience. The cellphone notifications are supposed to be sent and received within minutes of an alarm by staff on campus or within a certain distance of it. Mulkey said some staff members didn’t receive a notification for 30 minutes after the alarm went out and that a staff member away on business in Little Rock received a notification despite being so far away.
“It’s got some problems they’re going to have to work out. There are kinks in the system the state is going to have to resolve,” Mulkey said.
Cellphone service that can be sketchy in Fouke for some providers might delay a notification and is completely out of the school district’s or state’s control, Mulkey said. If a teacher or administrator has service through a cellphone provider that doesn’t cover the entire area, receiving notifications could be a challenge.
On its Website, Rave Mobile Safety, the company contracted to install and run the cellphone-based panic alarm system statewide, states that the app gives an authorized user the choice of tapping “active shooter,” “fire,” “medical,” “police” or “other” buttons. When activated, notifications are supposed to be sent immediately to teachers and school personnel to initiate emergency procedures, while 911 dispatchers are given specifics concerning the nature of an emergency. If, for example, there is a fire or a threat from an armed person, the system provides law enforcement with information such as the number of people likely on campus and floor plans of the school buildings.