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Continued from Page 4
Participating myself, before sitting down, the assailants
took me onstage and proceeded to execute me, singling me out as an example
because of my cheerleading uniform. At 9:30 a.m. I was killed by a gunshot wound
to the head (all make-up, of course) to the chant, “Kill the cheer leader!”
After negotiations, the assailants began killing one student
every 10 seconds until the SWAT team left. Eventually, only 6 of the
original 30 students held hostage escaped with their lives, not including the
killers.
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If this seems very real to you, it should. When asked if the
situation ever felt real to him, Detective Quon of the Ontario SWAT team stated,
“Right from the beginning.” The Ontario SWAT team trains 18 hours a month
and undergoes their initial training and sniper training at Camp Pendleton
Marine Base in San Diego.
In this case, the SWAT team arrived at the school in 15
minutes and formed an immediate action plan, but they were only four blocks away
at a command post. They were told nothing except that there were shots
fired at Chaffey High School. Normally, however, Detective Quon said that it
would take 30 minutes to an hour to get an entire team together, plus teams from
surrounding cities, and arrive at school. “This is why training such as this
should be annual,” stated Detective Quon. “So if it ever is real, it won’t
take that long.”
Kaboom! The Student Store facade was the perfect location
for the city fire department to train for a school violence crisis. |
When asked what students in a hostage situation should do in
that hour until help arrives, Larry Clark, the Fontana SWAT commander stated,
“Stay mentally composed and keep on your feet.” When asked how a
student should answer those potentially fatal questions posed by assailants,
both Quon and Lt. Clark said, “There are no right answers.”
The different cities worked jointly on this
project because in a real situation of this magnitude, the home city would
require assistance. |
Also interviewed was Mary Duarte, a Chaffey senior
selected to play one of the “bad guys.” Mary was one of ten police
explorers selected from the 41 who applied for the task.
When asked how she felt about this tremendous responsibility,
she said, “I was excited to participate in something to better SWAT tactics.”
Mary said the suspects all tried to make it as real as possible in order
to help the SWAT team stay focused.
According to
Captain Roberts, Chaffey High School was chosen for the exercise because it was
the most physically challenging to control. The Chaffey administration was also
very cooperative. The police department
feels that by working closely together with school staff, students, fire
departments, outside SWAT teams, and other social services, the likelihood of
making mistakes will diminish.
The entire training procedure was aimed at responding to a potential
future problem. Police officials advised that they also spent the summer making
a video that works towards prevention. This video shows the causes and remedies
of school violence and will soon be shown in schools throughout the nation.
After production is completed, the film will be viewed by all
CHS staff and students. Included are Chaffey’s very own students’ views
regarding violence in schools and society, as well as their ideas for possible
cures.
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