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County stages crisis scenario:
Emergency personnel respond to school shooting, chemical spill
JEFF FISHER
Cherokee
Scout
Friday Aug 24, 2007
Flashback:
The Police State Takeover Of Schools
Murphy – The first two gunshots thundered across Murphy
High School’s campus at 9:05 a.m. Tuesday, prompting Principal
Jerry Brackett to put a “Code Red” into effect.
Custodians hustled to lock doors throughout the campus as school
officials, teachers and a group of Advanced Placement chemistry
students huddled in classrooms. Outside, an officer on foot gave
chase to a gunman racing from the agriculture building through
the front lawn using a hostage as a human shield.
At 9:12 a.m., two more shots boomed through the main building
as an armed four-man team of officers moved along the exterior
wall outside the gymnasium. Minutes later, more shots drummed
inside the main building and the alarm sounded.
Cherokee County’s Emergency Management Services, various
law enforcement agencies, fire and rescue teams reacted to the
escalating circumstances. Fortunately for those trapped on campus,
this was only a simulation designed to test the chemical decontamination
abilities of the county’s Specialized Medical Assistance
Team and assess how the responding agencies handle a crisis situation.
(Article continues below)
Angela McClure, a Murphy Elementary School teacher acting as
a student during the drill, was one of the first people released
from the main building. She walked out of a northern exit with
her hands clasped overhead, asking for guidance. McClure had been
in Room 320, where she said a gunman fired two shots.
One of the drill’s evaluation officials told her to
go out into the parking lot and see how long it takes for someone
to lead her to safety. About 40 minutes later, McClure said an
officer pointed her in the right direction.
While McClure wandered aimlessly, a group of six students pretending
to be disoriented from the attack stumbled out of the main building
and into the parking lot. The students said they were suffering
from chemical burns on their faces and glass fragmentation injuries
to their abdomens.
“It was realistic,” Matthew Van Horn said. “There
was gunshots everywhere. We had to leave our best friend lying
on the ground.”
Jacob McClain and Luke Johnson were in the chemistry lab with
Van Horn when a gunman broke through the classroom door and fired
two rounds. The three seniors said within seconds their visibility
was limited to about five feet because fog machines were used
to simulate a chemically contaminated situation. An officer assigned
to direct the wounded guided the three students to medical aide,
where they were rerouted to a decontamination site.
The N.C. Hazardous Materials Regional Response Team and an engine
from the Murphy Volunteer Fire Department stationed two inflatable
tents where all contaminated patients were being escorted. Shortly
before 10 a.m., Brackett, who had been “shot” twice
in the stomach, was ushered to “decon,” as Sheriff
Keith Lovin referred to the site. On his way to receive treatment,
Brackett passed one of the shooters, who had been detained.
Handcuffed at a picnic table, the gunman was being interviewed
by Murphy Police Chief Justin Jacobs and sheriff’s Investigator
Roger Williams. During the interview, another suspect, who Lovin
identified as the second shooter, arrived in the area as law enforcement
officials continued to secure the main building.
“That’s the guy that was in our room,” a woman
in the parking lot who was released from Room 320 cried out, pointing
at the second gunman taken into custody.
At 10:12 a.m., Lovin said things were going “good,”
but he was too busy to elaborate.
Rescue operations continued inside the main building as those
exposed to the contaminated area received attention. Sitting on
the front lawn, Caleb Mathews, another senior student who was
in the chemistry lab, said he’d sustained chemical burns
and was supposed to be unconscious. Mathews said the response
time from when the lab filled with smoke until he was helped to
safety was about 15 minutes, and the process seemed very realistic.
Dispatch made its first announcement over the radio at 11:30
a.m. that the drill was over.
Comprised of paramedics, fire and rescue personnel, SMAT, which
Emergency Medical Services director Jeff Ledford described as
a “rapid decontamination team,” is the westernmost
of 29 such units functioning throughout North Carolina. The team
is designed to deploy to any local chemical, biological or nuclear
emergency within 30 minutes and organized to respond to similar
situations anywhere inside state borders within two hours.
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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