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Officer teaches new technique to survive mass shootings

By JOANNA SMALL
By JOANNA SMALL
There's no question even a school-shooter drill is terrifying. In the one KIRO TV observed a Portland, Oregon-area high school, a man posing as an armed intruder entered a classroom. But the police officers, school administrators and pastors inside that classroom fought back. They’re learning a new way to respond to mass shootings called ALICE.

“ALICE is an acronym. It stands for alert, lock down, inform, counter and evacuate,” Kenny Lott explains.

Lott is an ALICE-trained Redmond police officer leading the two-day course at Newberg High School.  He says right now, most people are simply told to lock down.

"Lockdown is a viable option, that's why it is a part of the ALICE model, but it's not the only option,” Lott tells KIRO 7.

Lott puts the people in his course through half a dozen drills -- they will take the skills back to their organizations.

"I felt really exposed," a pastor who had been hiding behind a table turned on its side said immediately after one of the exercises.

"I know where I'm going when the shooting starts. I'm going towards the gunshots, that's just the way it is,” Mark Rise, the principal of Newberg High School told KIRO 7.

While Risen says he plans to counter, he doesn't know how he feels about asking his staff and students to do the same.

"It's gut-wrenching and it's still fresh,” Risen tells KIRO 7. “The training just happened."

Lott is adamant that counter doesn't mean that you go looking for a fight; it means that you fight back.  Lott says the idea is to grab anything you can in the room that could be used as a weapon, like a book, so if you are confronted you have something to use in your defense. But Lott also says a shelf of books is more effective than just one, so the key is everyone should be trained to counter and respond as group.

Counter has already been seen in action. In June, Jon Meis pepper sprayed and tackled a gunman who had already shot Seattle Pacific University students; police say Meis saved lives. And Lott says saving lives is what matters most.

"I don't care if you're using ALICE,” he tells us. “I want you to do something, so that's my goal."

School districts, cities, counties and businesses all over the country are implementing ALICE, but not in Washington yet. Lott plans to work with the Redmond School District this fall, and the head of Swedish Medical Center's security team attended one of his recent trainings.

KIRO

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