Intruder drill: Authorities train for dangerous possibilities
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.
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.
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.