Saving lives in a school shooting

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - A chilling scenario was brought to life Friday at a former elementary school.

In it a gunman opened fire in a classroom.

Those inside did what they've been trained to do for years, lock the doors and hide.

The end result was as tragic as you'd expect once the gunman is inside.

"Casualty rates in the room using lock down are 80 to 100 percent," says Lt. Joe Hendry with the Kent St. University Police Department.

So Hendry is showing officers and educators a different method known as ALICE or Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate.

"Most of the time we have superior numbers and we've taught people for 20 years to lay down and be quiet and that does not work," Hendry says.

ALICE teaches students to barricade doors with tables, escape through whatever means necessary including windows and as a last resort try to tackle the gunman.

"You have a greater chance of survival by doing something and not laying on the ground," Hendry says.

The pellet gun being used during the exercise led the trainees to wear masks but the experience was still an eye-opening one.

"It was quite enlightening," says Centerville superintendent Tom Henderson. "Kind of scary. Gave us a feel for what that emergency situation would feel like."

Centerville is one of the districts that uses lockdowns in those situations but after this the district may explore a new strategy.

"We'll be modifying and changing the ways we approach these situations," Henderson says.

Hendry says the training plays off our natural reactions when in danger, the fight or flight concept.

For kids he compares it to learning Stop, Drop and Roll.

"They're not scared when they have to do fire drills because it's conditioning," Hendry says. "We're conditioning them to survive. We have to do the same with active shooters."

Hendry says the ALICE method can't prevent all casualties but will save lives.

"Movement equals survival," Hendry says.