Nobody expected the shooting at Chardon High School that led to three deaths and two serious injuries on Monday.
In the same way, nobody expects a similar catastrophe in Athens, but local law enforcement and school officials have plans in place in the event of a shooting and are reviewing the procedures to ensure everyone is prepared.
Minutes after shots rang out in Chardon High School, the school was placed in a lockdown, potentially saving the lives of students and teachers by keeping them out of the line of fire.
All Ohio schools are required to have similar lockdown procedures in place and to practice them yearly. Plans are often made in collaboration with local law enforcement officials and shared with all emergency responders.
After Monday’s shooting, Athens High School Principal Mike Meek said he asked all of his teachers to review the lockdown procedures with students to ensure everyone is prepared.
“Hopefully we never have to use the plans, but we have to be vigilant and on our guard,” Meek said. “We review constantly so everyone knows exactly what to do.”
Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle said his department has worked with schools in the city to ensure both schools and law enforcement can react properly and as quickly as possible.
The department not only helped plan the lockdown procedures, but they also actively review them by having at least one police officer present at each drill the schools hold, Pyle said.
“It’s extremely hard to plan for such a catastrophic event,” he said. “No matter how much anyone prepares, nobody knows what’s going to happen.”
Though Athens Police does not have its own SWAT team, Pyle said all of his officers have had active shooter response training in the event of a school shooting or similar event.
Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly said his office has a special response team with an armored vehicle, specialized weapons and weekly training in the event of an active shooter.
The team executes many of the dangerous arrests with the Narcotics Enforcement Team and is prepared to be dispatched anywhere in the county within 15 minutes, Kelly said.
“We are well equipped, well trained, well prepared,” he said. “I am very confident in our program.”
Kelly said sheriff’s deputies have planned lockdown procedures with all of the schools in the county outside the city of Athens, and deputies are present for monthly drills to ensure preparedness.
Athens City Schools Superintendent Carl Martin said collaboration with law enforcement is very important in protecting students and, while it is impossible to anticipate an event like the Chardon High School shooting, locals schools are very diligent to be as prepared as possible.
After the shooting Monday, Martin said he asked all of the principals in the district to not only review the lockdown procedures with their schools but also to see if any changes should be made to the plans.
Though some schools have security cameras in place, Martin said no metal detectors are used in the district, but the possibility has not been eliminated.
“We have discussed metal detectors in the past,” Martin said. “Additional safety measures may be discussed again.”
Though additional securities measures can prevent harm to students, Kelly said he understands the economic restraints of equipment like metal detectors and said they cannot be relied upon completely.
“If someone wants to shoot someone, a metal detector won’t stop them,” Kelly said.
Officials agreed that continual preparation and constant vigilance are the keys to preventing and responding to a catastrophic event such as a school shooting.
“No one can say they are prepared 100 percent,” Meek said. “But we think about it all the time and are well prepared.”
rc348710@ohiou.edu
