[911: What is your emergency? This is Chardon High School calling. We need assistance right now. There’s a student with a gun.] (cbsnews.com)
On February 27, 2012, school began like every other day at Chardon High School. Students ate breakfast and lounged around in the cafeteria prior to first period. Frank Hall, assistant football coach, stood at his desk as a cafeteria monitor about to take attendance when he heard what he thought was a firecracker. Hearing another two “firecrackers,” Hall investigated and immediately saw an active shooter.
Seeing the danger his students were in, Frank Hall launched himself towards the shooter. The shooter shot at Hall, but Hall jumped behind a Pepsi machine, so the shot missed. Then Hall charged the shooter again, yelling and chasing the shooter down the corridor, until the shooter ran out of the school. Because Hall chased the gunman from the building, the shooter never had a chance to reload his gun.
“You just think about getting him out of your room, you know, get him out of your area.”
-Frank Hall; CBS News
After Hall lost the gunman in the parking lot, he returned to tend to the victims in the cafeteria. Unfortunately, this tragedy resulted in the deaths of three students and left three other students wounded.
The shooter was arrested a short time later outside of the school and was charged with murder, receiving three life sentences on March 19, 2013.
“The cross country team, the band, the drama team, and the staff — everyone — is working hard to lead the kids back to a normal life. Living every day. You can see people enjoy things more, and are more thankful. You can tell they enjoy this year more, kids being involved with other kids.”
-Frank Hall; Cleveland.com
Frank Hall is one of the many heroes ALICE Training recognizes for their bravery, compassion and action to thwart tragedy at schools, businesses, hospitals and other public places. Frank is another example of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in critical moments. ALICE Training believes people like Frank are all around us all the time. People willing to act, not just to help save themselves in dangerous situations, but also save others. But the willingness to act does not necessarily mean the possession of the skills to act. That is why we believe it is so important that every citizen understand their response options when it comes to confronting evil, and know very easy yet very effective skills that will help them survive. It does not take a good guy with a gun to beat a bad guy with a gun.
