Sign Of The Times: 'Active Shooter' Drill At Middle School
(CBS) – Sadly, we've seen far too many school shootings in recent years. Now, a northwest suburban school is arming teachers with new guidelines.
The lessons include fighting back, CBS 2's Mike Parker reports.
It was not a real "active shooter" situation. It was an emergency drill, using blank cartridges, a simulation of what it might be like if a gunman invaded Station Middle School in Barrington.
Some 200 teachers tried to deal with that "what if" scenario, in which a police officer played the role of an armed invader.
Teachers were taught three possible ways to deal with it: Run and get you and your students out of the building if it is safe; hide and barricade yourself inside the classroom; or fight.
Police Chief David Dorn says teachers and students can toss chairs, books and other items, rather than meekly submitting.
"If you feel like that is your last option ... take any item inside of the classroom and use it to your advantage," he said.
Teachers were more than a little shaken by the simulation.
"It got real, real hard to take when you see your friends on the ground and they're bleeding or they have blood on them and you know they're dead," Tim Maguire said.
The fictional scenario here ended with five victims and the shooter dead. It was make believe, but the lessons for the teachers were real.
Grade school teachers in Barrington will get a similar bout of training next year.
