I just got that dreaded text...

About 20 minutes ago my son sent his parents a text from Warren Tech saying he and his classmates were locked in the welding room because there was a shooter reported... that's all he said. Turns out it was an honor guard rifle that went off accidentally somewhere and all is clear now. But the feeling of getting that text knowing his only defense was a door and some welding equipment, well, it wasn't very good. Needless to say, my wife was an instant wreck as all she could think of was the worst case scenario.

Good to see it was a false alarm.

The news said it was an accidental discharge of an honor guard rifle, but I got a robocall from Jeffco saying someone just spotted someone with a rifle. My son came home a little while ago and said his instructor was freaking out which he thought was funny because the guy usually swears constantly and acts like a badass. I think it took a year off my wife's life.

I have heard both stories, I am more inclined to think people freaked out at the sight of a dummy rifle.

Rick wrote: The news said it was an accidental discharge of an honor guard rifle, but I got a robocall from Jeffco saying someone just spotted someone with a rifle. My son came home a little while ago and said his instructor was freaking out which he thought was funny because the guy usually swears constantly and acts like a badass. I think it took a year off my wife's life.

Sorry you, your wife, and your Son had to go through this, Rick. Was wondering if you've heard any additional on whether the rifle was accidentally discharged? News stories I've been seeing indicate a man with a rifle was seen and that's what prompted the 911 call. I haven't seen anything regarding a discharge.

To no one in particular: the schools went into lockdown according to virtually every report I looked at. In addition, every story I read gave the impression the person seen with a rifle did not appear to even be inside a school. This looks to me to be one of those scenarios where a "lockout" might have been a more appropriate action to take along with all the parental/community notifications.

My understanding is that the Jefferson County School District has formally adopted the Standard Response Protocols of The I Love U Guys Foundation. If my assumption is correct, and the more appropriate response would have been a "lockout", not a "lockdown", then either the media got the terminology wrong, or the school district isn't using its own protocols and emergency procedures, a slippery slope of possible legal repercussions they really don't want to go down.

One of the primary reasons John-Michael and Ellen Keyes came up with the SRPs was to try and standardize terminology in order to minimize confusion during such extremely stressful responses. If it can be shown the district isn't following its own protocols, policies, and procedures during response to emergency incidents, they can be held legally liable for anything that does go wrong if it happens on their watch.

I talked to another student in that welding class (small world). He does not believe there was a discharge, just someone sighting the dummy weapon.

Rick, I'm glad that the entire event turned out to be a non-event! I often wonder if our instant gratification society is often a victim of too much connectivity. Everyone carries a smart phone these days and has instant access to the Internet, someone thinks they saw something and all of the sudden thousands of dollars and many man hours are lost do to a false alarm. Not to mentions the extra grey hairs and stress that this kind of event causes parents and family. I wouldn't want to get that text from anyone but at the same time I'd really be unhappy hearing the story later on; "you won't believe what happened at school today..."

Perhaps it's time to educate children about firearms instead of scaring the shit out of them with 24/7/365 coverage of the next incident of so called "gun violence". It's gotten so bad that I would hesitate to walk down the street in my own neighborhood carrying a BB gun. People are so wound up about seeing anyone with anything that looks like a gun, it's like watching a Coon Hound try to pass a peach seed.

otisptoadwater wrote: Rick, I'm glad that the entire event turned out to be a non-event! I often wonder if our instant gratification society is often a victim of too much connectivity. Everyone carries a smart phone these days and has instant access to the Internet, someone thinks they saw something and all of the sudden thousands of dollars and many man hours are lost do to a false alarm. Not to mentions the extra grey hairs and stress that this kind of event causes parents and family. I wouldn't want to get that text from anyone but at the same time I'd really be unhappy hearing the story later on; "you won't believe what happened at school today..."

Perhaps it's time to educate children about firearms instead of scaring the shit out of them with 24/7/365 coverage of the next incident of so called "gun violence". It's gotten so bad that I would hesitate to walk down the street in my own neighborhood carrying a BB gun. People are so wound up about seeing anyone with anything that looks like a gun, it's like watching a Coon Hound try to pass a peach seed.

Otis, this is where the issue of correct terminology enters into the discussion, especially regarding usage of same. If this would have been a "lockout" instead of a "lockdown", little to no expenditures either in terms of man hours lost or anything else would have been spent due to a false alarm.

As far as educating children about firearms is concerned, how would you go about doing that? And who would foot the bill for this education?

The report of an "accidental discharge" was from the first report I heard on channel 7, then after that they all started saying it was just a weapon spotted.

When I talked to my son and told him about the meltdown his mom had, he just laughed and said it wasn't really a big deal, that he wasn't even worried. I have a daughter who is a freshman at Lakewood High and she basically said the same thing. It seems that, at least with my kids, this is just a routine exercise like a fire drill or tornado warning and they figure the odds are in their favor. Since they are basically defenseless anyway, I'm glad they feel that way instead of being perpetually scared.