CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Several students panicked at Richview Middle School Tuesday morning when an administrator accidentally made an active threat announcement, instead of reading from the script for a pre-planned intruder drill. A group of students and at least one teacher ran across Memorial Drive Extension, knocking on doors to escape what they thought was an active shooter.
“This certainly caused concern for everyone,” said a CMCSS email sent to Richview parents. “We deeply apologize for this mistake and the concerns it caused. This should have been a routine drill, but the script used was for an actual emergency not a drill. We appreciate the quick actions of students, employees, families and law enforcement. We will ensure this never happens again during a drill. Thank you for your understanding and support.”
Schools spokesman Anthony Johnson told Clarksville Now that one class and a teacher evacuated to the nearby neighborhood.
‘He was hysterical’
Michelle Gieger, who has two grandsons who attend Richview, told Clarksville Now one of her grandsons was a part of the class that evacuated to Rudolphtown. After running across Memorial Drive Extension and getting help from a nearby resident, the middle schooler and some of his classmates were able to call their parents to let them know what happened.
“He was so hysterical that he could not hardly talk to me, so she (the resident) had to take the phone from him to tell me what happened,” Gieger said. “At this time, she thought that it was an active shooter too, because all the kids said they were told it’s not a drill.”
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Gieger’s husband was prepared to pick up her grandsons until they found out that the announcement was a mistake. She praised the teacher who led the students across the street, moving them quickly to safety in what the teacher thought was a dangerous situation.
After the evacuation, School Resource Officers, additional law enforcement and school administrators were able to get everyone back in the building and restore order in a few minutes, Johnson said.
How did it happen?
The drill was to take place at 7:30 a.m., during first period just after student drop-off. The assistant principal was supposed to announce that it was a lockdown drill, Johnson said.
Normally, he said, “Teachers and students practice protocols to get to a safe area and secure doors. There is an active threat video that is also shared at the middle and high school level. The assistant principal in this case said over the intercom that there was an active threat and it wasn’t a drill, reading from a script that was not approved by the Safety and Health Department for drills. This caused panic.”
Gieger said she didn’t understand how the situation wasn’t addressed more quickly.
“My thing is you knew you made the mistake the instant those words came out. … How do you not immediately correct it to keep these kids, and teachers, from running from the school?” Gieger asked. “When they ran across Memorial Extension, they had cars honking at them, so apparently they didn’t even slow down and kept running. Thank goodness nobody got hurt.”
Johnson said there will be an after-action review and re-training to ensure lockdown drills are conducted per CMCSS’ expectations. Such drills are planned four times a year at each school, at different times during the day. Johnson said these drills have been done for years, and this is the first time he could recall an incident like this.
For more information go to CMCSS’ Active Threat Plan.
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