An active shooter scenario Tuesday in each building Indian Lake school district was designed to be as realistic as possible in order to determine best practices in the event of an actual threat.
From the left, Washington Township Police Chief Rick Core, officer Michael Thompson, Indian Lake Superintendent Rob Underwood and High School Assistant Principal Dave Coburn work to clear the hallways Tuesday during an active shooter drill carried out at the high school. (PHOTO | INDIAN LAKE SCHOOLS)
Law enforcement and school officials called the drill a success afterward, and said that students and staff took the exercise seriously and responded as they should have.
“The drills went well. I am pleased that our staff and students all responded quickly and quietly,” Superintendent Rob Underwood said.
“We continue to evaluate our response and update our emergency plans as needed.”
Officers of the Washington Township Police Department assisted in carrying out each drill.
Blank rounds of gunfire were fired off in unpopulated areas of the high school and seventh- and eighth-grade wings of the middle school so that, “those within the buildings could hear and recognize the sound,” according to school officials.
“It went real well because everyone involved made the right decision,” said Rick Core, Washington Township Police chief. “Everyone that should have evacuated did, and everyone that should have locked down in place did.”
Law enforcement was on school grounds for about 90 minutes total, Chief Core said. A total of three drills were carried out in each school building on the campus.
Local schools have conducted a number of evacuation drills and perpetrator scenarios in the past, and staff from all schools are trained in active shooter procedures, but the use of simulated gunfire during the school day is a first.
In September, Bellefontaine City Schools staged a similar active shooter scenario involving simulated gunfire during the school day.
Parents and guardians of students from both schools were afforded the choice of keeping their children home from school that day.