Gunmen in the Central School (VIDEO REMOVED)
3-18-10 The reason for my filming this exercise was to create a DVD for Law Enforcement. Though the public version video has been removed from this site, it is available for download by request.
email me at john@madisonfloridavoice.com
3-15-10 Michael Akes Director of Human Resources requested that the video be edited due to some content. I removed it instead.
Madison’s law enforcement and emergency services participated in a training exercise on Saturday, March 13th at Madison County Central School. The training exercise, overseen by Disasters, Strategies & Ideas Group, LLC of Tallahassee (DSI), was to prepare participants for potential hostage situations in a school setting.
The weapons used were Airsoft© guns that shoot small plastic pellets. Though they aren’t considered deadly, they can cause damage if shot into an eye or an ear canal. Safety glasses and ear plugs were mandatory in the area of play along with long sleeves and pants.
The day-long exercise included multiple scenarios acted out by local law enforcement and emergency medical services, school officials, and other volunteers, who made the event as realistic as possible.
This exercise prepared our community for response to this type of potential tragedy should it ever become a reality.
*Editor’s note:*
I want to thank Linda Erdmann, president of DSI, for giving me free filming reign.
Thank you to Sheriff Ben Stewart for choosing me to record the official law enforcement footage of this exercise.
Special thanks to Victoria Brown, Emergency Management Director of Madison County, for coordinating my efforts on this day.
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Why was the video removed?
I think this kind of exercise would be good for all schools to go through so that if something like this ever really happened our student and staff would be better prepared and may be able to help prevent some of the injuries or even deaths that have happened to the staff and students at other schools where such disasters have really happened.
As being the principal of the school, I do want to thank all of the participants who made this exercise such a success. The realism certainly heightened the awareness and preparedness of my staff. It is through great partnerships with all agencies: MCSO, Madison Emergency Management, MPD, MCSB, Red Cross and many others, our staff and school is a safer place for our students to learn.
Sadly, drills such as this have become necessary. What was once a place of learning and promise has become the stage for mass murder. Though it saddens me to know that it has come to such straights, I’m glad our community has taken this step to be prepared.