By BRIAN LEAHY
of The Gazette
The learning didn't stop Monday at Ben Franklin Junior High School, even though students stayed home so teachers could have a record-keeping day.
Members of the school administration, school district and Stevens Point Police Department took advantage of the empty hallways and classrooms to test their responses to a gunman holding hostages in a classroom.
"All-in-all it was to get us in the mindset of how to deal with one of these scenarios," said Lt. Ed Eggleston at the debriefing following the two-hour exercise.
The scenario began at about 1 p.m. when an irate husband entered the school office and demanded to see his wife. The husband then pulled out a gun, issued threats and left the office. At that point school officials announced a "Code React" over the intercom requiring everyone to lock doors to their classrooms and await further instructions. On his way to the room where his wife was, the gunman shot and wounded a janitor in a hallway. The gunman then entered the room, taking his wife and two others hostage. Mid-State Technical College students portrayed the gunman, janitor, wife and hostages.
Hearing the code react and the sound of a shot, the school's police-school liaison officer, Sgt. Brian DeDomines, went to the office and made a radio call for assistance.
Three initial responding officers joined DeDomines to form a rapid deployment contact team to search for the gunman. At the same time, the on-scene commander for the Police Department arrived and requested activation of the Emergency Services Squad - the department's tactical team - and negotiators.
Finding a gunman is easier said than done. A loud sound, like a gunshot, will reverberate off walls, making it hard to tell where the shot was fired from, said Capt. James Dowling.
While searching for the gunman, the contact team located the wounded janitor, leading to decisions, such as whether to treat him or maybe even handcuff him since authorities don't exactly know "who is who" in the developing situation.
The contact team located the gunman inside the classroom and set up a perimeter in the hallway to contain him. Officers from the contact team began initial negotiations.
Other responses were happening at the same time.
School officials and police established an on-scene command post in the office. If a safe area couldn't have been found in the school, the department could have used its command post trailer. The first four ESS members to arrive formed a rescue team to extract the wounded janitor. Police set up a staging area in the cafeteria.
If it had been a real situation, police would have set up a perimeter outside the school, said Police Chief Douglas Carpenter.
After the wounded janitor was rescued, the full ESS team assembled and relieved the officers positioned outside the classroom. Police also searched the remainder of the school.
Once in position the ESS team attempted to establish negotiations with the gunman. Initial communications between police and the gunman had been by yelling to each other. When the police negotiating team arrived, they set up in the cafeteria and safely away from the gunman. Negotiators then used a field phone system to communicate with the gunman. After a few tense moments, the gunman allowed the ESS to slide a phone to him. On the other end of the wire, Sgt. Ron Carlson began a conversation with the gunman.
The ESS team remained in position outside the classroom, ready to assault the room if necessary. Police will avoid entering the room and instead try to negotiate a peaceful end to the situation if at all possible.
"We don't want to force the issue if it will solve itself," said Carlson.
As the negotiations progress, Carlson could tell the gunman was getting ready to peacefully give up. When suspects begin asking what would happen to them if they were arrested, they are doing what is known as the "surrender ritual."
The gunman released the hostages. He then followed police instructions to slide out his gun, come out with his hands up and lay facedown on the floor. Police then handcuffed and searched him.
In combination with police, school officials also had decisions to make. They had to decide issues like when to evacuate the students from other classrooms and how to contact the family of the wounded janitor.