Fake shooting, real terror

PHILLIPSBURG | Teachers dove for cover under tables and some feared for their lives Thursday during an unannounced drill that featured a gunman firing blanks in the Phillipsburg School District.

Organizers hailed the drill as a success, but some staff members remained shaken Friday.

"The only reason it was not the scariest day of my life was because it wasn't real," said a teacher, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.

The so-called hostile intruder drill was conducted at the Phillipsburg Early Learning Center, where elementary teachers had gathered for a workshop before next week's opening of school.

The drill was coordinated between Phillipsburg police and school administrators to create a realistic scenario. It included an actor dressed as a gunman firing blanks, said acting Superintendent George Chando.

"It was done as means of assessing the security readiness," he said.

Bill Merrick, the school district's security director, said two unannounced drills have occurred before in the district, at both the middle and high schools. Thursday's drill, which occurred in a new building with which many staff members are unfamiliar, was a success, he said.

"All the drills of the past have prepared the staff for this," he said. "I cannot give the teachers enough credit."

Teachers not told of drill

Law enforcement knew the intruder was an actor, but most of the teaching staff was unaware, according to administrators. Following the incident, teachers and others in the building were debriefed and their actions critiqued by drill leaders in the cafeteria. Some teachers were in tears, according to the teacher who spoke about the incident.

The first indication that something was amiss came with an announcement over the loudspeaker that the school was under lockdown -- and not, as is usually the case, preparing for lockdown, the teacher said.

A moment later the gunman, wearing a long brown wig, sunglasses and dirty jeans and shirt, burst into the library, where about 50 teachers were participating in a workshop.

Merrick said the actor was not originally supposed to enter the library but only jiggle the door handles and fire blanks in the hallway. The door opened unexpectedly and the actor improvised to keep the drill moving, he said.

"When we do drills like this, we don't know what will be the reaction of people. These things happen," Merrick said.

Faculty did as trained

He added that teachers are taught not to retaliate in such situations. If they had, he said, protocol was in place to handle it, although he wouldn't elaborate.

Despite the unplanned element of the actor entering the library, teachers followed protocol, Merrick said.

Warren County Public Safety Director David Gallant said four 911 calls were phoned in from the school. Gallant said though dispatchers were made aware of the drill, it was "on very short notice" from law enforcement officials.

Traditionally, he said, details are hashed out to ensure that emergency lines are not being tied up during drills. Gallant said calls were treated as live until they were determined to be part of the drill.

The teacher who was in the library said many were distressed over the drill's spontaneity.

"If I was told it was a drill, I would still have followed protocol," said the teacher. "Why did we have to think that it was the end of our lives?"

Crammed under a table with several others, the teacher said when the gunman began screaming obscenities and firing, people had no way of knowing that he was not shooting live rounds.

No time to second-guess

"I remember thinking that I didn't hear bullets hitting anything, but I didn't have time to not take it seriously," said the teacher.

Chando and Merrick acknowledged that some teachers were upset.

"The range of emotions was what anyone would anticipate," said Chando, who added that choosing to conduct such a drill is difficult.

Teachers union President Barbara English didn't return messages for comment.

Town Police Chief Ed Mirenda did not participate in the drill but said he heard reports that protocol was followed.

"Teachers did a great job and reacted as they were trained," he said.

The teacher said the lesson of survival drilled home was not a welcome one: "I'm just mad that I even had to think that yesterday could have been the end of my life.

"I think a big apology is necessary."

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