Christian Peterson
Reporter@riverbendnews.org
On Tuesday, May 24, a terrible tragedy struck Uvalde, Texas, when 18-year-old Salvador Ramos took the lives of multiple children and teachers at Robb Elementary School. The tragedy struck the United States with fear and anger at the loss of innocent life and the handling of the situation. In the wake of this tragedy, fears have risen and both parents and students are worried about their safety. This is why Riverbend News has partnered with the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) and the Suwannee County School District (SCSD) to relieve any fears those in the county may have. The two groups met together for an extensive interview to explain the protocol and measures taken to protect students from this event ever happening, and explain how the situation would be handled should such a situation arise.
Superintendent Ted Roush, Sheriff Sam St. John, Sgt. Lee Willis and Sgt. Shawn Larney were all present to speak on the sensitive matter. It began with a review of another former tragedy, the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people were murdered by a former student in 2018. After this incident, Senate Bill 7026 was introduced, allowing the enactment of the Coach Aaron Feis Guardian program. The SCSD and SCSO quickly took advantage of the new bill and, due to their ongoing good relationship, quickly implemented the new program as soon as possible at all Suwannee County schools. With six resource officers already present on the campuses, the county only had to hire two more, and found that personnel of the SCSD quickly volunteered for the Guardian program. This program allows certain individuals, after being approved by the SCSD, the SCSO and the resource officers, and after going through an intense vetting process, to carry a firearm on the school campus to protect others from an active assailant. “We want to have school resource officers and Guardians in every school to protect our schools and the kids in our schools,” said Sheriff St. John. Furthermore, the SCSD follows many different protocols to continue to make the district a safer place, including annual safe school assessments; daily resource officer walkthroughs; consistent practice through active shooter drills; reexamining the plan for the assailant yearly; and, of course, the implementation of resource officers and the Guardians program.
The individuals involved in the Guardian program work monthly with the school resource officers and the rest of the SCSO. They practice on the gun range and are even required to score an 85 percent annually, which is even more intense than the resource officers, who are required to score 80 percent every two years. The Guardians are also required to go through 132 total hours of comprehensive firearm safety, which is split into many different categories, including firearms instruction; instruction in precision pistol; discretionary shooting instruction with a simulator; instruction in active shooter or assailant scenarios; instruction in defensive tactics; and instruction in legal issues. On top of all these things, they are required to pass a psychological evaluation, an initial drug test and subsequent random drug tests, and continue to complete ongoing training in firearms on an annual basis.
Besides all this, the SCSD and SCSO work hard to prevent the tragedy from ever being attempted through physical barriers and community support. Each school is outfitted with high, unclimbable fences and no individual is able to enter the school except through the front office. Both entities are constantly proactive and in continual communication with each other about improvements and worries. Resource officers are required to be constantly seen, rotating around the school to check doors and entrances making sure the entire campus is secure. “The number one thing, in my mind, that a school resource officer has to be is visible,” said Superintendent Roush.
He also explained he has district employees monitoring social media for any concerning or threatening posts from individuals regarding the schools. There is also an app known as FortifyFL that is automatically put on every electronic device provided by the school and is also available for download by the public on the SCSD website and all phone app stores. This app allows the filing of anonymous or non-anonymous reports to inform law enforcement about concerning things. It is quick, convenient and, if in regard to danger to the school, will immediately alert Sheriff St. John, Superintendent Roush, all resource officers and even state-level officials. One can include photos and videos in the tip and a message regarding the concern. “Pretty much everything stops until we get to the bottom of that threat. We’ll knock on doors in the middle of the night if we have to,” said Sgt. Willis. Sheriff St. John continued, saying, “None of these threats are ever taken lightly.” All of this, accompanied with the rare and exceptional working relationship between the SCSO and SCSD, had led to an immediately safer school district for all students.
As the interview continued, the conversation turned to what parents can do with their children at home to prevent and prepare them in these incidents. Sgt. Larney said a key point was to “break the snitch mindset.” There is no reason to be ashamed of telling someone about something that is concerning and may cause a danger to others. On top of that, all parties recommended parents monitor their children’s social media. “Most of the time, if parents just open their kids’ phones, they can see what’s being posted and said in these group chats,” Sgt. Larney said. The FortifyFL app is also available for parents to download. Furthermore, both entities spoke about being aware of what children own and have on their person, whether that be on their physical person, in their backpack or in their vehicle. Roush said, if it makes it to school campus, then the “intent is irrelevant.”
Both the SCSD and SCSO recommended practicing for dangerous situations no matter where you are. Walk through the location with your kids and, no matter where you are, be it a restaurant, supermarkets or even at home, explain what the best strategy is if an active assailant were to enter. Practice identifying two different exits, items that can be used for defense, and listening to adults and law enforcement. Ultimately, help increase your child’s situational awareness so they don’t have to think, but rather act off of good habits. Also, remind children to take the drills at school and home seriously.
Those who are not actively involved in the school as a parent or student are still encouraged to attempt to stop these situations from arising. These individuals should be willing to report any suspicious activities they observe around school property or see on the internet or social media. Superintendent Roush even stated he once received a call from concerned citizens about contractors that were working on the roof of the school. “If you see something out of place, call it in. I’d rather go every time and there be nothing to it, than them not call and there be something to it,” Sheriff St. John advised.
Furthermore, the school is focused on the mental health of all their students. There is mandate in the district which requires all employees to receive youth mental health training. This training, Superintendent Roush explained, will allow “those people who work around kids to be able to identify trigger points that, in that child, don’t look the same from one day to the next.” The school counselor is then made aware and a recommendation is made that they contact the student. In the direst of scenarios, based on the actions or statements of the child, Baker Acting is an option.
The final preemptive measure that is taken is the state required drills, normally taught under the acronym A.L.I.C.E. “A” stands for alert, meaning you should maintain your situational awareness and, if an active assailant is seen, alert everyone you can. “L” stands for lockdown; in some situations, if the assailant is near you or it is unsafe to evacuate, the best plan is to lockdown. Barricade a room and stay quiet so as not to alert the assailant to your position. I stands for inform, meaning by whatever means necessary, be it 911 calls, public address systems or texts, make sure information about where the assailant is or is doing is heard so that everyone is able to make the wisest decision. “C” stands for counter, meaning that in the scenario that the assailant has breached and is beginning to attack, fight back. Do whatever is necessary and use whatever is necessary to protect your life. “E” stands for evacuate, meaning, if in a safe enough scenario, begin evacuation and leave the area to a safe location. Ultimately, the students should listen to the faculty and police officers, follow their instructions and take all school drills necessary.
The conversation then turned to how the reaction would be if an assailant were to actually breach the school. “We mean business here. If an evil person comes to harm our kids, we are trained to shoot them and shoot them dead,” Sheriff St. John said. He further elaborated that, if there was a breach, the number one priority was to go and stop the assailant immediately. “We are going to go stop the bad guy,” Sgt. Willis said. The proper program is known as the single officer response to an active shooter, meaning that no matter if there is one officer or Guardian present or five, they are immediately moving to neutralize the threat. “I couldn’t live with myself if I stood outside that school and I will not tolerate it from another law enforcement officer standing outside that school while people are being slaughtered,” Sgt. Larney said. Whichever entity is available be it a resource officer or Guardian, is trained to immediately move to and neutralize the threat as soon as possible. “We are not soft targets. You can have your a** shot if you come into our schools and try to do that,” Superintendent Roush said. Sheriff St. John elaborated, saying, “I’ve got all the confidence in the world in our school resource officers and our Guardians that, if evil comes to our schools to harm or kill our kids, then they’re going to be met with deadly force and we’re going to shoot you and shoot you dead.” Sheriff St. John continued, saying, “I want the parents of all our students in Suwannee County schools to know that we are serious about this, and I want someone that maybe even thinks about coming in our schools to know that they’re going to be met with deadly force, and I am serious about that.”
The final question asked of SCSD and SCSO was what advice they could give for parents if this horrific situation were to arise. “Let us help you by listening to the most up to date information that we can provide,” Superintendent Roush said. They elaborated by explaining it will be faster and safer if parents listen to the information and be ready for the reunification plan. Both entities stressed that parents should not arrive or enter the school, especially with a firearm, so that there is no confusion and no innocent parties get hurt. “Follow the reunification plan,” Superintendent Roush stressed.
Sheriff St. John finished by stating, “We mean business here, I got all the confidence in the world in our school resource officers and our Guardians. If an evil person comes to harm or kill our kids, we are trained to shoot them and we will. We’re not going to hesitate. We will go in there and take care of business. You come to Suwannee County schools, you ain’t making it out alive, if you come to harm our kids.” “It’s the same philosophy that goes for any of our guys in the community. Our job is to keep the community safe. First man on scene, you better go get them and put in the work,” Sgt. Larney said.
“My number one priority as the school superintendent is we expect to return everybody’s child at the end of the day in the same or better condition than when we got them from you in the morning. Number two, we cannot that nobody in this unfortunate situation would not be hurt. We will minimize to the greatest extent possible the people who will be hurt by this situation,” said Superintendent Roush. “Number three, this is the argument going on nationally, you hear that more guns are not the answer that guns in schools are not safer. I firmly believe, based on all the research that I have done over 20 years, that schools that do not have Guardians and resource officers strategically placed around their campus are soft targets. School districts that have Guardians are not guaranteed, but are absolutely safer, than those that do not. The gun is a life saving device, just like a fire extinguisher. Our Guardians are trained to deal with the threat until the professionals arrive.”