Every year, the state requires school to spend time practicing lockdown drills.

Friday, November 5 just before 11 a.m., there was an armed robbery at the Wright-Patt Credit Union on Hoke Road, approximately 3.1 miles away. The suspect was said to have been in Wal-Mart beforehand, where he stole two pellet guns. He then proceeded to go across the street to the bank where there were 15-18 customers along with the tellers. The man stole an undisclosed amount of cash. No one was injured and no shots were fired.

Even though there was an armed robbery within 5 miles of the high school building, the high school did not go into a lockdown or even a shelter-in-place. The Englewood police was in contact with our SRO (Student Resource Officer), Jack Daugherty, at the time that the robbery was taking place, Daugherty then communicated with high school administration.

“We receive the information that dispatch gives us. Had the suspect headed in the direction of the school, we would have gone into a shelter-in-place, so that no one could get in and out of the building, but we can continue our learning process. When any situation happens, whether or not we have a lockdown or shelter-in-place, a patrol car is sent to the school to drive around the school just in case something else were to happen or someone pulled into the school parking lot. It’s an extra set of eyes,” said Daugherty.

After the robbery, it was reported the suspect left the bank on foot in the opposite direction of the high school building. Because of this, he did not believe the suspect to be a threat to the high school.

High school administration decides whether or not we go into a lockdown or shelter-in-place.

“When someone calls the administration with something that seems odd or out of the ordinary we will do our investigative wok before we immediately put the school into a lock down or shelter-in-place. If we cannot finish our investigative work, we will put the school into a lockdown or shelter-in-place until we can finish our investigation,” said principal George Caras.

When the school is put into a shelter-in-place or a lockdown those students in the math wing stay exactly where they are.

“I think we might actually be safer because each teachers door safely locks on top of the outside doors locking,” said math teacher Shane Kincer.

The suspect has still not been caught.