On Jan 18, 2017, a student in a classroom of a high school in Monterrey Mexico pulled out a .22 caliber handgun and began shooting at his teacher and classmates. Everyone in the room stayed seated in their chairs or went to the floor in an attempt to hide from the gunman. In less than a minute, 4 people were wounded, 3 critically with head wounds, and the shooter killed himself. Nobody attempted to leave the room until the shooting was over.
Greg Crane, President and CEO of the ALICE Training, says “This response is similar to the actions taken by those trained only in Lockdown protocols, where people are told to be passive, remain static and wait for Law Enforcement response.”
Two days later on January 20, a shooting occurred at West Liberty-Salem High School in Ohio just before school was starting. Upon hearing the shotgun blast, many students ran into rooms and barricaded the doors. Others broke out windows in order to facilitate an evacuation of the building to safety. Staff in the vicinity of the shooter rushed him, took him to the ground, and held him until the police arrived five minutes later. The targeted student suffered gunshot wounds. None of the other students who evacuated the building or the staff who subdued the shooter reportedly were injured.
Kraig Hissong, Superintendent of West Liberty-Salem School District said in his press conference: “I would like to thank my staff and students who did what they were trained to do today, which was to follow the ALICE protocols.” Champaign County Sheriff Michael Melvin said, “more people would have been wounded at the West Liberty school building on Friday morning without the intervention because the shooter’s intent was to harm more people.”
Crane praised the actions of the school. “This is the value of preparation. But to be prepared, we have to spend the time and effort to train everyone in their survival options, and then practice those skills.”
ALICE Training prays for the swift recovery of the victim and expresses extreme gratitude and pride for the staff, students. Staff and students’ quick thinking and actions at West Liberty-Salem High School saved lives.
ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate) is the nation’s first training program for citizens to increase their survival chances and save lives, if faced with a Violent Intruder. ALICE Training has trained thousands of police departments, K-12 school districts, higher education, businesses, hospitals, and houses of worship in the ALICE protocols over the last 15 years. The Institute is located in Medina, Ohio.
