'You just never know'

<span>With several gun-related events in the national and local news last week, Steeleville High School staff members participated in 4E training on Friday.</span>

<span>The active shooter training, which was previously scheduled, is an Educate, Escape, Evade and Engage (4E) course designed to prepare for and respond to an active shooter/intruder incident.</span>

<span>"Overall, I think they did great," said Randolph County Sheriff Shannon Wolff, who is a certified 4E instructor. "This is pretty intense training.</span>

<span>"It's pretty realistic and I think it opens their eyes and shows them what their weaknesses are and what to work on."</span>

<span>Instructors included Deputy Shane Rinehart, Deputy Eric Hamilton and Red Bud Police Officer Travis Aaron. All are certified Tier One Tactical 4E instructors.</span>

<span>The instructors were assisted by Red Bud Police Chief John Brittingham and Steeleville Police officers Tyler Cleland and Zach Handcock</span>

<span>Randolph County Randolph County Correctional Officer Seth Buch played the role of the intruder. </span>

<span>"The escape, educate and evade can be used in any scenario," Wolff said. "They just have to decide which option to use whether there's one shooter or more.</span>

<span>"It's an option-based program."</span>

<span>Although rare, there are occurrences of active shooter events with multiple shooters. According to published reports, of the 28 deadliest shootings in U.S. history prior to last week's San Bernardino killings, only two were caused by multiple shooters.</span>

<span>One of those was the Columbine High School massacre in Littleton, Colo., in 1999. During Friday's classroom presentation, which precedes the scenario portion of the training, Wolff noted that law enforcement agencies nationwide changed their tactics in response to that event.</span>

<span>Instead of holding back and waiting for a SWAT team before entering the building, officers now address the active shooter first instead of the victims.</span>

<span>"We may not get accurate information," Wolff said, in regard to the number our behavior of shooters in an incident. "People are under stress and may not know the information to give us.</span>

<span>"Without discussing our tactics, we know the proper way to respond to it. We're trained to respond to all types of scenarios and we may change our tactics when we get there."</span>

<span>Steeleville District 138 recently approved the issuance of $2.9 million in alternate revenue bonds to help with repairs and improvements in the district.</span>

<span>On the district's "wish list" for improvements is upgrading the security system in both buildings.</span>

<span>"We are in the process of putting together bid specs with our architect for a camera system school-wide," said District Superintendent Stephanie Mulholland. "There's no way to completely guarantee your school is safe from someone who wants to do harm, but there are ways to minimize the amount of time they may have to do what they want to do."</span>

<span>While having no direct correlation, Friday's training occurred two days after the San Bernardino shootings and an incident at Frankfort Community High School in West Frankfort.</span>

<span>In the latter incident, an unloaded gun was found "stashed" in a locker at the school, which was briefly placed on lockdown while law enforcement investigated.</span>

<span>According to The Frankfort American, authorities determined there was no threat to harm FCHS students and a male juvenile student was arrested.</span>

<span>The American reported Friday that student attendance the day after the incident was 11 percent lower than normal amid fears and concerns regarding the week's events.</span>

<span>"You just never know where these are going to occur," Wolff said. "What's important to know is everyone - children and staff - report suspicious activity.</span>

<span>"The littlest thing could tip us off to something that may happen."</span>

<span>In regard to the scenarios, Mulholland said it is a "different mindset" when dealing with adults or children when faced with an active shooter.</span>

<span>"It's a different mindset when you're with a group of adults contemplating what to do rather when you're the one adult in charge of a group of kids," she said. "You have to know what your kids are capable of."</span>

<span>Mulholland said the training, which is now commonplace along with fire and tornado drills, is a "sad reflection on the way society has turned."</span>

<span>"I think, in general, that it's unfortunate that we have to spend time on these things," she said. "But we have kids to protect and the staff realizes how important that is."</span>

<span> </span>