Scary' intruder drill leaves Phillipsburg,NJ teachers upset, officials assured

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SJG26

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http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/today/index.ssf/2008/08/scary_intruder_drill_leaves_ph.html

"A group of elementary teachers gathered for a workshop at Phillipsburg Early Childhood Learning Center got a shock Friday when a gunman burst into the facility library.

The man, yelling obscenities, squeezed off several shots, prompting those present to run for cover and pray for their lives.

They found out later that the gunman was an actor and the shots fired were blanks, both part of a "hostile intruder drill" organized by the Phillipsburg School District and police department."

Two lucky notes for the actor:

1. PRNJ - 1000x 0% chance of anyone being armed.
2. School=Defenseless Victim Zone.

Further observation:
"The man, yelling obscenities, squeezed off several shots, prompting those present to run for cover and pray for their lives.

The teachers had been trained how to react in such a circumstance and used what they learned effectively during the exercise, Chando said.

Town police Chief Edward Mirenda also praised teachers' performance, saying, "Teachers did a great job and reacted as they were trained."

Trained = Baaaaaaaaaaaaa Baaaaaaaaaaaaa Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I look forward to the day where the story includes:

"Mr. Z- a teacher at the school - reacting to the alleged maniac - promptly took a metal folding chair and beat the maniac senseless rendering him unconscious and near death:evil:

Unfortunately, any heroic action would be met with loss of employment at the very least, massive legal defense fees and potential arrest and sentencing!
 
Stupid idea not to inform teachers about this "intruder drill" ahead of time.

I'm predicting resignations, lawsuits and much grief for those responsible.
 
I can't believe they actually talked someone into bursting into a room full of people with a gun full of blanks. :what:

Now that is some stupid.
 
To the devil with the role player. It's a good way for a teacher to have a heart attack. Wonder if that ever crossed anyone's mind.

Every time I think I've read the absolutely stupidest thing a public school administration can concoct, someone proves me wrong (unfortunately).

:banghead::banghead::banghead:

Springmom
 
Wow, just wow, All I can say is that is if I had been waiting outside for my wife to come out of the meeting that cop would be dead or in the hospital. Had I heard shots and screaming or seen a masked gunman entering the building, I would have grabbed my truck gun like all normal people have (okay normal for us :neener:) and just shot the guy at the first opportunity. Hopefully, before he had engaged any targets in the building. At the very worst my wife would be safe or at least have the chance to run and I would be dead, as it should be. Maybe that's why I have never heard of anything like this being done in Florida.
 
SCKimberFan: So they are training them to cower?
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Why would this surprise you? This is exactly what they are teaching the students.

This was SOP at the H.S. our son attended. If a student was attacked and he defended himself he would be punished more harshly than the perpetrator.
 
Yeah, "great idea" --

Exposing employees to the perceived threat of an armed aggressor is tortious. That's legalese for the school district is risking being sued.

The "hostile intruder" is fortunate that someone in the drill wasn't carrying CCW -- despite whatever "policy" might be, staff in these situations disregard "no CCW" policy all the time.

The hostile intruder is lucky he/she wasn't shot by a lawfully armed civilian.

Disregard of a "No CCW" ban is classed as "civil contempt." It's not "criminal" but rather a "civil" infraction -- like a parking ticket.

Shooting an "armed intruder" who has a gun, and is firing shots, yelling obscenities . . . That's "justifiable defense."

Gotta love the mind-set of the "brain trust" running our nation's "education" system these days.

The employees in this incident have a class-action lawsuit. The administration exposed them to a demonstrably life-threatening, dangerous, situation in reckless disregard for all sorts of obvious possible deliterious consequences.

I hope staff decides to retain vigorous legal counsel.
 
They reacted to a masked gunman by praying? I wonder what caliber they were praying for?
Click to expand...

Maybe theu were praying that he had a Talon pistol from the other thread? :shrug:

On a serious note, Wow! This was a dumb idea. And it's pretty telling of the school administrators that it never even occured to them that one of their teachers would hurt this guy. Chair, laptop, text book, heck even a good pen (seen The Dark Knight?) There's plenty of ways this could go *very* bad for the actor if just one teacher decides to go out in a blaze of glory.

Force on Force, and role-playing are good training but it only works if everyone involved knows that their training.

My school district did some dumb things while I was in school, but they never got this bad.
 
Good way to get a Kershaw lodged into your throat. I may not have a gun on me at school, but I am never unarmed.
 
Someone walks into a classroom shooting, I'm not going to stop and ask him if they are blanks. Then I'm going to sue for emotional distress and hearing damage, as the teachers should be doing.
 
These sorts of drills are not limited to schools. My mother called me one day, stating that her place of work (a doctor's office) was going to have a "gunman drill", and she said she had some reservations. I found out that:

1. Management knew, but none of the staff was supposed to know.

2. The police were not to be informed in advance.

3. The gunman was to walk into the lobby, produce a realistic fake gun, and demand that the receptionist provide him with drugs.

I made her doublecheck that this was the case, becuase it just sounded too stupid to be real. She did, and it was. Turned out some state agency dreamed this up, so it was "official".

I pointed out a few flaws in this idea, which she duly sent to management:

1. You're doing this is a public place. What happens when you have an off duty or undercover cop in the waiting room?

2. You're doing this in a shall-issue CCW state, with LOTS of permits in circulation. What happens when you have a permit holder in the waiting room?

3. Is your receptionist a permit holder? Have you checked?

4. Who gets named as the defendant in the lawsuit for Old Mr. Magillicuddy when he has The Big One while witnessing this robbery? The Clerk of Courts wants to know.

5. Who gets named as the defendant when the role-player gets shot by the responding cops?

My mother said that the state agency representative who orchestrated this "had never thought of these things before" (!) and had never had any complaints from the other offices where they did this (!!), but he would confer with his superiors. A day later, the drill was officially cancelled.

I tell you, bureaucrats will get people killed. Period.

Mike
 
Mike:

Good for you in getting the "drill" canceled at your Mother's workplace.

There was a thread a few months ago about a similar drill at a college. It is just hard to believe that anybody could think this was a good idea. Equally hard to believe there have been no injuries or deaths as a result. But I predict there will be eventually...
 
Kinda like airplanes after 9/11. You can't go into a school with a gun anymore to commit a crime because everyone will now assume you mean to kill as many people as possible. People now assume you are not going to be taking hostages and will start acting as they have been trained. Some will drop to the floor and beg while others are going to do things that will get the aggressor hurt or killed.
 
No doubt they will tout it as a success as they all did what they were told and nobody got hurt.
 
Imagine if just one of the teachers finally got fed up with PRNJ's ways and decided to arm up.

Now the phonies break in and he goes into action eliminating the threat.

If I was on the jury, he would not get a conviction from me.
 
I think it will take a role-player being shot by a police officer before this silliness grinds to a halt. I say police officer because if it is a CCW holder, everyone will just cluck their tongues and shake their heads sadly at the perils of an armed sociiety. If it is a cop doing the shooting, everyone will go, "oh, maybe this was a bad idea."

Not sayin' it's right, just sayin'.

Mike
 
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