You got lucky Phillipsburg
‘Scary’ intruder drill leaves Phillipsburg teachers upset, district officials assured
A group of elementary teachers gathered for a workshop at Phillipsburg Early Childhood Learning Center got a shock Friday when a gunman burst into the facility library.
The man, yelling obscenities, squeezed off several shots, prompting those present to run for cover and pray for their lives.
They found out later that the gunman was an actor and the shots fired were blanks, both part of a “hostile intruder drill” organized by the Phillipsburg School District and police department.
“The only reason it was not the scariest day of my life was because it wasn’t real,” said a teacher, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Acting Superintendent George Chando said teachers performed well during the drill.
The teachers had been trained how to react in such a circumstance and used what they learned effectively during the exercise, Chando said.
“It was done as a means of assessing the security readiness,” he said. “I cannot give the teachers enough credit.”
Town police Chief Edward Mirenda also praised teachers’ performance, saying, “Teachers did a great job and reacted as they were trained.”
Teachers weren’t as pleased with how the drill turned out.
One said, “If I was told it was drill, I would still have followed protocol. Why did we have to think that it was the end of our lives?”</em>
Yeah, you got lucky Phillipsburg- “scary intruder guy” should be dead. There is no point in drilling teachers as to the proper way to lay down and be victims, instead, you should allow them to conceal carry a handgun.
That way, next time some pasty faced desk commando gets the big idea to shock and awe a bunch of teachers, the hapless actor is dead, the teachers feel empowered, and parents (if they have a lick of sense) are comforted that they are leaving their children in the hands of someone who is willing to fight to save them, instead of knowing the proper pose of supplication to take under a desk, praying for the best.
