| Place a Classified | Subscribe today | July 10, 2009 |
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Officers participate in drill
ABERDEEN — Even though it was a drill, Amanda Christiansen said she was afraid during her participation in an active shooter scenario staged at Aberdeen High School Monday.
Christiansen, 16, was one of about a dozen of students from the Bingham County Youth Coalition who took part in the preparedness drill. She assumed the role of a shooting victim. “It was scary, but I’m better prepared than I was before,” said Christiansen, who admits she’s afraid of guns. Officers fired blank cartridges during Monday’s realistic drill. Spent shotgun shells and casing from rifles and pistols littered the halls of the school and the smell of gunpowder lingered in the air following the staged incident.
Bingham County Sheriff Dave Johnson said law enforcement policies regarding active shooters have changed since the Columbine High School shootings in 1999. The incident, which happened in Littleton, Colo., left 12 people dead and 23 wounded. “It used to be that we would try to talk the shooter out,” Johnson said. “But in most cases, the shooter already has a target in mind when they enter the building. Now we go in and attempt to stop them.”
Officers from Bingham and Power counties, Fort Hall and the City of Aberdeen took part in the mock school shooting. “We train as many officers as we can so we can all work together,” Johnson said. “Most likely you won’t be working with the same officers in an emergency situation.”
Bingham County does not have a Special Weapons and Tactics Squad, but officers in the county receive upgraded weapons and tactical training, he said. Monday’s mock incident involved five simulated shooters and seven responding officers.
Last February, the same day an active shooter drill was held at Shelley High School, officers got a chance to test their response time and strategies at Snake River High School when reports of a distraught student with a weapon came in. Johnson said officers believed the student, Curtis Kofoed, was still inside the school when they evacuated students.
Kofoed, 16, was found near the school grounds at about 9 p.m., the victim of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. An evacuation drill is also planned at Aberdeen High later this year.
Notifying parents and keeping them calm during a school incident is difficult. Johnson said a reverse 911 system that could automatically target and call a particular area to inform and update parents is not yet available in the area.
As a parent, he said he understands their concerns. “You can call a parent and tell them that their child is safe,” he said. “But until they pick up their child and have them in the car, it’s not going to help.”
Johnson said a staged active shooting is planned at Firth High School as well, and the Blackfoot Police Department conducted similar simulations at Blackfoot High School. Monday’s staged shooting in Aberdeen was to help prepare the school’s faculty and staff for a real emergency. Johnson said in the event of an emergency, teachers are instructed to lock heir classrooms and keep students inside. The more information school personnel can provide regarding a shooter’s location and the school’s layout, the better law enforcement can isolate and confront the shooter while protecting themselves, he said. Aberdeen School District 58 Superintendent Joel Wilson said there is no way to be 100 percent prepared for a school shooting, but drills like the one staged Monday at the high school will help the staff to know how to react in the event of a real situation. The School District has three schools and 860 students. “We need to make sure our schools and our students are safe,” Wilson said. “We’re more ready today than we were yesterday.” Article RatingReader CommentsSubmit a CommentCommenting RulesWe encourage your feedback and dialog. All comments are subject to deletion by our Web staff.
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