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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Officials declare mock shooter scenario success

Fulton firefighters and a Callaway County Ambulance District EMT secure Westminster College student Stefanie Cavanagh, playing a wounded student, to a backboard during a mock shooter scenario at the school on Wednesday. (Justin Kelley/Fulton Sun photo)

The gray sky and pounding rain seemed a perfect fit for what was about to happen on the Westminster College campus Wednesday morning.

At 8:30 a.m., a gunman (a volunteer villain) walked into an auditorium in the Coulter Science Center and opened fire (using a foghorn), “wounding” six students.

For the next approximately 26 minutes, Westminster College students, staff and administrators experienced what it would be like to have a gunman on campus as they participated in a mock shooter scenario designed to test the school's emergency plan.

For Jennifer Johnston, a senior from St. Louis - one of the students in the classroom selected to be the scene of the shooting - those 26 minutes seemed to last much longer. Despite a briefing last Friday in which Fulton Police Department officers tried to prepare the students for what would happen during Wednesday's exercise, she said the situation still was more stressful than she anticipated.

“The adrenaline was going even before it happened,” Johnston said. “(The gunman) came in with a mask on, yelling at everyone to get down, and it was actually pretty scary.

“Even though it was just a few minutes (before police arrived), it felt like everything took forever. It was pretty crazy.”

“It was pretty intense at first,” agreed senior Neil McCutcheon of Fayetteville, Ark. “It seemed a lot longer than it was. Obviously we knew what was going to happen, but it was still a shock.”

Members of the Fulton Police Department's tactical team make their way to the Coulter Science Center while participating in a mock shooter scenario on the Westminster Campus on Wednesday. During the scenario a mock shooter entered a lecture hall in the building and several students played the role of injured people. (Justin Kelley/Fulton Sun photo)

In accordance with Westminster's emergency plan, a 9-1-1 call was made to Fulton authorities and the school's emergency siren was activated as soon as campus security was notified that shots had been fired. Within several minutes, e-mails and text-messages had been sent out to students and staff registered with Westminster's emergency notification system, and a broadcast regarding the situation was issued via speakerphone on all phones on the college's system. All across campus, dorms and classrooms went into lockdown.

Approximately five minutes after the incident started, officers with the Fulton Police Department's Diamond Team - commanded by Lt. Andre Cook and including detective Jason Stewart, Sgt. Jimmy Culbertson and Sgt. Joe Schram - were in the classroom while additional officers and the Fulton Fire Department helped seal off the campus. One minute later, the Fulton SWAT team arrived to help secure the classroom and building, and uninjured students were escorted out of Coulter to safety.

For Anthoney Ellis, a freshman from St. Louis, the arrival of the SWAT team was scarier than the mock shooter bursting into his American government class.

“Four guys with heavy assault rifles - that's not a pretty sight,” Ellis said.

As soon as the site was deemed safe, firefighters and the Callaway County Ambulance District arrived to help treat the six students “wounded” during the shooting while curious students who were not in class or their rooms at the start of the scenario watched from a distance.

Within 26 minutes, the “victims” had been transported to Callaway Community Hospital, the suspect was escorted from the scene and the all-clear was given.

Aside from some communication issues - officers had problems getting radio or cell phone signals to go out of Coulter, and not all students received the first text message - both emergency and school officials declared it a productive half hour.

“We have spent the past year or so developing procedures for a variety of emergency situations, and we've done tabletop scenarios for things like tornados and ice storms, but this was one we wanted to do live,” said Westminster president Barney Forsythe. “I think it went very well ... I would say in general we validated the procedure.”

Fulton police chief Steve Myers also was pleased with how the drill unfolded.

“I think it went very well,” he said. “Our initial response time would be very similar (to what we did today) - the only thing we did speed up was the response of the SWAT team. Other than that, I think our response time was very realistic.

“Probably the most important thing is the confidence it instilled in all the agencies and our confidence in each other.”

As for the students, they said the experience served as a confidence booster for them as well.

“(The drill) was superb - I don't think we could have asked for anything better,” Ellis said. “Everyone took it seriously and treated it like we were really in danger.

‘Shooting' timeline

Jackie Weber, Westminster College's director of residential and Greek life, was in charge of keeping time during Wednesday morning's exercise. Based on Weber's information, the following is an approximate timeline for the mock shooter scenario, which started at 8:30 a.m.:

0:00 - Shots are fired in a lecture hall at Coulter Science Center.

1 minute, 46 seconds in - Westminster College emergency siren is activated.

3:04 - Phone page is sent out over Westminster College network, notifying students and staff that an emergency situation is in progress.

4:40 - Fulton Police Department Diamond Squad arrives.

4:47 - Fulton Police Department enters classroom with shooter.

5:53 - Fulton SWAT Team arrives.

9:06 - SWAT team enters classroom.

11:00 - First responders with Callaway County Ambulance District and Fulton Fire Department enter Coulter to begin treating/transporting “victims.”

23:00 - Ambulances with wounded leave school.

26:14 - All-clear signal is given.

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