Musgrave remembers wonderment from space
June 18, 2013
On to the next chapter: Murrell signs with Texas College
June 25, 2013
More than 200 Terrebonne Parish teachers as well as other school administrative and support staff now know what gunfire sounds like as it echoes off the walls of a school hallway.
“Listening to the sound of it inside a building makes it more real,” said Tess Daigle, principal at Coteau-Bayou Blue Elementary as she and 15 other teachers stood in a hallway watching a live-active shooter drill hosted by the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Houma Police Department. “We will know what it sounds like if someone ever does fire a gun. I would recommend that all teachers and school staff participate in something like this.”
Daigle was one of more than 130 employees of the Terrebonne Parish School District as well as several private and parochial school and fire department staff members in attendance at one of the four active shooter drill workshops and simulations hosted this month. More than 50 members of local law enforcement also participated in the event.
“I have four of my teachers here with me today and more will be attending in the next few weeks,” Daigle said. “We have been conducting lockdown drills for the last five years that I have been at the school, and now we know what we have to do to tweak the crisis plan we already have in place.”
Prior to the simulation, which had teachers observing and participating in the drill in lobbies, halls and classrooms of Ellender High School in Houma, HPD Chief Todd Duplantis and Sheriff Jerry Larpenter addressed the large crowd.
“There have been lots of changes in education in the last 20 years,” Larpenter said. “It’s our job to run to trouble. We want you to run away from it, but sometimes you can’t. That’s when you need to hunker down and avoid the situation.”
As the possibility of becoming a victim of an active shooter has spread to malls, homes and movie theaters, Larpenter urged those in the crowd to stay alert, be vigilant and be aware of themselves and their surroundings. He and local fire officials will do their part in being aware this summer as they look for ways to improve safety in every school in the parish.
“We are also looking at a new weapon for self-protection,” he said. “It is non-lethal, and I will go to the school board with it. It shoots pepper gas a long way, and it would have incapacitated the Sandy Hook shooter real quick.
“But every situation is different, and we have learned that real quick.”
“We met with the school board shortly after the Sandy Hook shooting took place, and we began to work toward this,” Duplantis said. “I was impressed with last week’s class, and there were lots of things I did not know. My sister is a teacher and my daughter is in school, and I told them the things they need to be aware of.
“We don’t have all the answers, but this is the first step. We may save two or three lives (by hosting this workshop) and accomplish our goal.”
TPSO Capt. Tim Sonnier, a former member of the U.S. Marine Corps, lead a 30-minute presentation that highlighted many of the school shootings that have occurred in the last 20 years, especially the events at Columbine High School in Colorado and at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
“Columbine was the one that really caught people’s attention,” he said. “These guys prepared for this and went on a 49-minute shooting rampage. They knew how people would react. The Virginia Tech shooter chained and padlocked doors (on the building he shot people in).”
In the last several years, police preparation for these types of events has increased and Sonnier took the time to share things he learned at a course he had taken a few months ago.
“The mass violence model behavior goes through stages,” Sonnier said. “Grievance, ideation, research and planning, a critical phase and preparation, another critical phase where shooters may leave clues on social networks for clues, breach and attack are the stages. These people may give lots of clues, so we are urging teachers to be more perceptive.
“These individuals may leave legacy tokens like photos, videos, writings or even leak their plans to a third party. Tell a teacher. Tell the school.”
According to Sonnier, things like anger, personal ideation, antisocial behavior, the perception of being persecuted and depression are some of the possible motives behind many mass shootings, and deterring such events starts with keeping an eye out.
“Watch children as they get on school buses,” he said. “Look for strangers. Screen people coming into the school.”
Sometimes the signs that a person may be a threat take place long before his or her plans ever come to fruition, according to Sonnier.
“The shooting at the Santa Monica College last week was committed by a 23-year-old who was sent to a doctor in high school,” the captain said. “He had a history of mental problems and violence and had a kill list when he was in high school.”
While this particular shooter took three lives before he was stopped by officers, the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary claimed 26 lives, and Sonnier believes that the actions of teachers and staff at the school may have prevented that number from climbing even higher.
“Teachers fought back at Sandy Hook, and created delay and saved lives,” he said. “The initial response (to a school shooting) is teachers, then the law. That is the reality.”
Sonnier discussed several ways that a teacher could cause delays, which staff at the event requested be kept private, in the event of a school shooting. These delays can create more time for local law enforcement agents, who are well versed in the layout of the parish’s schools, to arrive at the scene. He also briefed teachers on what they may see as police respond to a school shooting.
“Cops will be working to stop the deadly behavior, limit the shooters movement, prevent the shooter’s escape, move victims and continue past possible explosives,” he said. “After the shooter has been detained, we will send in a rescue team, identify the suspects, locate and remove victims and expand search and rescue, if needed.
“No one will leave in their vehicles and book sacks should be left behind. Shooters will sometimes booby trap cars and book sacks.”
In the aftermath of a school shooting, those at a school will be moved to a safe and secure location where everyone will be searched, and Sonnier urged parents not to try to get to a location if there has been a shooting at his or her child’s school.
“There will be 1,700 students at H.L. Bourgeois High School this fall,” he said. “In the event of a school shooting, 1.5 parents try to get to the school. (In the case of H.L. Bourgeois) that is more than 2,500 vehicles in the chaos of the aftermath.”
Among those in attendance were Sherry Kraemer, a middle school teacher, and Linda Joseph, supervisor of Child Welfare and Attendance for the Terrebonne Parish School District.
“This is the first time I have ever been to an active shooter workshop,” Kraemer said. “They should have something like this for students too, and I will be practicing some of these safety measures in my classroom.
“We are a safe school, but these will help my students even more if something should ever happen.”
Even though the workshop is not mandatory, the school district hopes to conduct them every year from here on out, and Joseph praised members of the local law enforcement for their commitment to the safety of the teachers, school staff and children.
“It is important for teachers because they need to be prepared in the event they ever face this type of situation,” Joseph said. “They will know how to protect themselves and the children. The training has been wonderful, and I have learned things I should and shouldn’t do.
“It is great to see law enforcement come in and take control of a situation.”
Officers from the Houma Police Department and the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office participate in an active shooter drill at Ellender High School. More than 130 teachers observed and participated in the drill.
