On Wednesday, we had a family member involved in a school shooting in Evergreen, Colorado. She witnessed the shooting. She and her friend ran as instructed down a hall, a teacher directed the two girls into her classroom where they sheltered under work tables in the dark with the door locked and barricaded by furniture.
“Run, hide, fight.”
The school was prepared for such an occurrence through their ALICE, active shooter response training. The first responders were on the scene within two minutes. The school staff reacted bravely and properly to protect students. Two students were shot, and the shooter, a troubled individual, shot himself.
Within 90 minutes a reunification center was set up at another school site. There was food, port a potties, therapy professionals, kleenex; everything needed for hysterical parents, cordoned off by heavily armed police. In a few hours the students were reunited with their parents, in a few days things will return to normal, it is already fading in the news cycle, while one student is fighting for his life.
Congratulations to the brave law enforcement and school staff for only having two students shot hanging around the orchestra room after lunch. Other schools should take note and learn from this incident. A few years ago this active shooter could have easily killed10 or more students and staff. Since we do not have the political appetite to address the proliferation of these weapons, and the mental health safety net is not adequate to stop these troubled individuals, we should spend our resources training school kids, staff and first responders to act accordingly.
On Wednesday, we learned what a reunification center is. Communication channels were blocked with traffic, hundreds of phones are still in the halls in backpacks.
Reunification Center is a phrase in our new normal.
Chuck Fincham
Wichita, KS