Intruder drill: Authorities train for dangerous possibilities

Friday, November 4, 2011
The "intruder" in a drill Thursday first encounters McCook Junior High secretary Patricia Unger, and then pulls a gun as he is frustrated by security measures that are designed and staff members who are trained to keep students safe. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)
Depending on the school building at which the drill played out, the intruder was taken down or shot. The scenario was similar at all of the public school buildings this week as both police and school learn what works and what needs to be improved in existing security plans. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The gun wasn't real. The stand-off wasn't real. But the possibility was.

McCook police officers and McCook Public Schools officials participated in drills at the schools this week, staging "an intruder" or "intruders" who threatened staff and students.

At the junior high Thursday morning, the "intruder" was an armed irate adult male -- accompanied by his two henchmen -- demanding to see the student who has been bullying his nephew.

An intruder pulls a gun during Thursday's drill. (Connie Jo Discoe/Regional Editor)

The angry uncle took as hostages assistant principal Chad Lyons and seventh grade resource teacher Austin Reisig as he and his minions banged on "locked-down" classroom doors and tried to find an unlocked exit and escape route after encountering McCook police officer and School Resource Teacher John Smith and officers Randy Bauman and Shannon Brown.

Officer Smith "shot" the man as he ran from the building; his buddies were "taken into custody." No student or teacher was injured.

The "bad guy" in the scenario was portrayed by Mike Smith of Lincoln, formerly of Imperial, Nebraska, who presented an anti-bullying workshop for parents Thursday evening. Mike Smith's "partners in crime" were fellow anti-bullying workshop speaker T.J. Timmermann of Lincoln, and Jim Morrow, a probation officer from McCook.

McCook Police Officer/School Resource Officer John Smith stopped the intruder at the top of a flight of stairs, after he had taken hostage assistant principal/teacher Chad Lyons and teacher Austin Reisig. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)

Mike Smith, a full-time youth motivational speaker, founded "Bay 198," a non-profit indoor skate-park in Westfield Mall in Lincoln. He is the son of Craig Smith, a 1971 graduate of McCook Senior High.

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