It all starts when a man enters Smoketree Elementary School. He walks up to the reception counter, gives his name, and says he wants to pick up his son. Simple enough request.

A man comes to the Smoketree Elementary reception desk and asks to see his son. (surveillance video)

The school administrative assistant asks for the child’s name and the name of his teacher. The man gives the child’s name, but says he does not know who the teacher is. Since the man is not known to her, the administrative assistant goes to the files to check who is allowed to pick up that particular child. There is a court document on file which says this man is not allowed to pick up the child. The assistant calls the principal out, and the principal explains the situation.

The man says, “You do not have any right to keep me from my son,” and he begins to move rapidly down the hallway towards the classroom and library areas. The principal asks office staff to call the police, and starts to go after the intruder, but by the time he gets out from behind the reception counter and into the hallway, the guy is almost out of site.

Smoketree principal tries to restrain the intruder. (surveillance video)

The principal tells his administrative assistant to announce a school lockdown (teachers lock your doors) over the public address system, as he takes off in pursuit. The principal follows the man, trying to reason with him, but he is already into a classroom. The principal tries to physically restrain him which leads to the two of them falling heavily to the floor. The intruder breaks away and runs off. The principal follows. The intruder finds several staff members, and there are injuries. The intruder leaves the building through an exit door. Staff members shout to each other. Where is he? Did you see where he went? The intruder comes back in through another door. The principal feels like he has been chasing this guy for fifteen minutes, and he asks why the police are not there yet. He is told the call was only made five minutes ago. It seems like much more time has gone by.

The police do eventually arrive and the intruder is arrested. One of the front office staff says, “Didn’t that guy have a backpack on when he came in? Well he doesn’t have it now!” The guy left a backpack behind? It could contain an explosive device. Principal Saunders asks administrative assistant Kerry Young to make an announcement for teachers and students to evacuate the building. One of the exercise observers remarks to another that evacuation might be a bad idea. Since the guy exited the building and then came back in, he may have left the backpack outside. It might be safer for the students to stay where they are.

Shortly after this, the forty minute emergency drill is called to a halt, and all participants go to the school library to discuss what has happened during this simulated emergency. 

This was the first of several simulations planned for our schools by district office staffer and emergency planner Lucinda Lounge. (Update: our emergency planner is now Aggie Wolter.) The Smoketree exercise was for elementary school employees. There will be another for middle school staff, and a third for the High School. 

Each of our schools has an emergency team made up of the school principal, administrative assistant, nurse, facility service person, and others. About 45 of these people, representing all six of our elementary schools, were at Smoketree for this emergency drill which was held on an early dismissal day, after students had left the building. They were each assigned a role (Some played staff and some played students. No actual students were involved in the exercise.), with Havasupai Principal Claude Sanders acting as the Smoketree principal, and Starline administrative assistant Kerry Young acting as the Smoketree administrative assistant. 

They were all sent to assigned locations in the school and were told to carry on as they might under normal circumstances while they waited to see what might happen. Some participants, like the front office staff, were involved right from the start. Others were stranded in classrooms or other spots when the lockdown was ordered and had little idea what was going on. The intruder was actually Alan Nelson, an Arizona Department of Public Safety officer. 

The after-exercise discussion covered many issues. What should you do if you are in a room that does not lock (Try to block or barricade the door.) Teachers lock their room doors, but who locks outside doors? (It should be made clear who has that responsibility at each school.) Staff need to consult their emergency procedure check list if they are not sure what to do. There is one in every classroom. School emergency team members should have the procedures memorized. 

This emergency simulation used district employees only. Future simulations will involve the police and fire departments, and promise to be even more challenging.

If you are the parent or guardian of a Lake Havasu Unified student, please read what you can do to help if there is an emergency at your child's school. You can also read more about it in an article from our local newspaper.  (1/25/06)