Page 16 - Flathead Beacon // 4.6.16

NEWS
FEATURE
During an active-shooter training at Flathead High School on March 2, Rick Gordon, left, and Mark Dennehy pull a victim into a room as Libby Moothart, right, and Kayleigh Stone, work to barricade the door. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Schools, Law Enforcement Prepare for the Worst
Authorities hold simulated school shooting at Flathead High School while students were away on spring break
IBY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
T WAS A QUIET TUESDAY AFTER- noon when gunshots rang out in the halls of Flathead High School.
A group of teachers and sta sitting in the cafeteria sprinted for the double doors. A classroom full of sta descended into chaos when a victim fell through the doorway, blood covering his wrist.
As one teacher dragged the man to safety, others slammed and barricaded the door, using everything they could nd to keep it shut. One teacher wrapped an extension cord around the doorknob and held it tight around the corner. They turned o the lights and hunkered down.
And in the hallway, just around the corner, a group of teachers who had been jovially hanging posters ran out- side for safety when a gunmen turned a corner and took dead aim at the group. But instead of sprinting in the other direction, the teachers took action. One
slid below the man holding the long- gun and another grabbed the barrel. Within a matter of seconds the man was on the oor under a pile of a half-dozen educators.
“Cease re, cease re, cease re,” yelled a man, who calmly stood in the hallway during the entire incident. “So what did we do right and what did we do wrong?”
On March 28-29, law enforcement o cers and educators from across North- west Montana gathered at Flathead High
School in Kalispell to practice a scenario no one hopes for: an active shooter inside a school.
According to Every Town for Gun Safety, there have been 171 gun-related incidents at schools across the United States since 2013. Those statistics include incidents where multiple people were fatally shot or where weapons were unintentionally discharged on school property. Some of the most deadly inci- dents have been etched into the mind of the national conscience, including
Columbine, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook.
The training, put on by Safariland Group and the Kalispell Police Depart- ment, began with in-class seminars about those high-pro le shootings and oth- ers, according to Flathead High School resource o cer Cory Clarke. During those sessions, participants learned about what went right and what went wrong in those shootings. Participants also learned about what to do in the case of a shooting, speci cally when to run, when to hide and when to ght. After learning the basics, they put their new skills to use during a simulated incident.
On March 28, local law enforcement and a small group of teachers took the active shooter preparedness training. The following day, the rst day’s partic- ipants shared their newly gained knowl- edge with other teachers. After success- fully running the active shooting pre- paredness training, with the oversight of
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APRIL 6, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
“THE THREE OR FOUR MINUTES BEFORE THE POLICE ARRIVE ARE CRITICAL AND THOSE ARE THE MINUTES WHERE PEOPLE LIVE OR DIE, AND PEOPLE WILL DIE IF NO ONE DOES ANYTHING TO STOP THE INTRUDER.”
- SANDY WALL