Inside a School Lockdown

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

By Kate Bolduan

(11/21/06 - RALEIGH) (WTVD) -- For the first time Eyewitness News takes you inside a school during a lockdown drill. These drills have become more common in recent years in the wake of Columbine and other school attacks.

With two recent shooting incidents at schools in Orange County, they're more important than ever, even with the youngest of students.

It's a typical Tuesday at Smith Elementary in Raleigh... another busy afternoon of crafts in Kim Jenkins' kindergarten class.

But in a matter of seconds, everything changes. An alarm sounds... it's a Code Red.

There's a rush to secure the room and not attract the attention of whatever's lurking in the hallways.

"Crouch down in the corner," said Jenkins, calming her students. "You are doing a great job. I need everybody to be very, very quiet."

Fortunately, this is only a drill. The only people roaming the halls are the school's crisis team and security investigators monitoring the drill.

"We know that this isn't real and we're practicing and it's been announced," says Chris McCabe, Smith Elementary School Principal. "But my heart was still beating, to be honest with you, faster than normal because you just can't help envision what if something was happening."

This is the first lockdown drill for students and faculty here and the first time we're getting a close up look at how it works.

Harold Lassiter is one of Wake County's security investigators who helps train and prepare schools for the worst, in this scenario, a dangerous intruder on campus.

Lassiter says it's all about common sense.

"If someone entered your home forcibly in the middle of the night what would you do," Lassiter says. He continued," You would grab a communication devise and lock yourself into a secure room and you would call for help."

But a call for help here isn't actually a call. It's a card. Green tells first responders everyone's account for and everything's ok. But, a red card or no card at all, means something is wrong.

"It could mean a medical injury," says Lassiter. "It could mean... I need assistance in this classroom. I need your help as soon as you can get to me."

It's a scenario that used to be unthinkable& but not in recent years. Not after deadly school attacks like Columbine, and just this year at an Amish school in Pennsylvania. Close calls hit close to home too... like those at East Chapel Hill High and Orange High in Orange County. In fact, 2006 has been the deadliest year for school shootings since the Columbine tragedy in 1999.

At the lockdown drill, the focus is on securing the interior of the building and checking on pre-set rally points around campus, designated meeting places for anyone caught outside. For elementary kids... that could be during recess.

Principal Chris McCabe says he wants lockdown drills to be as second nature as traditional fire drills. But, unlike fire drills, lockdowns are not mandated by the state and not required in most school districts across North Carolina.

It's a little unnerving and a little scary but all in all, school officials call the drill a success and a scenario they hope they never have to deal with in real life.

Wake County Public Schools are adding lockdown drills to their emergency operations plan this year. They're also recommending that every school conduct lockdown drills twice a year. While they're not required, school officials say they are considering mandating the drills.

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