Police, school officials satisfied with lockdown results

The five-hour lockdown of Waubonsie Valley High School on Wednesday was the largest ever executed by Aurora police, authorities said Thursday.

School and police officials are crediting previous emergency planning and training for what both called a successful operation.

"We've done lockdowns searching for armed subjects before, but never anything the size and magnitude of yesterday's incident," police Chief Greg Thomas said. "What happened yesterday was a very rare occurrence but we were prepared because we changed our response to armed subjects in schools after the Columbine tragedy."

Wednesday's lockdown began shortly after 7:30 a.m. when a student told school officials he saw two other students loading a firearm in a washroom. Principal Kristine Marchiando immediately ordered the school locked down.

Police arrived a short time later and searched the school room by room until about 12:30 p.m. when the air pistol was found.

The two students have been charged with disorderly conduct and referred to DuPage County's juvenile court system.

Marchiando was at a staff team meeting when she was alerted to the warning.

"I ran from my meeting, across the school to the office where I make the morning announcements. I ordered an immediate lockdown of the campus," she said. "All you think about is getting everyone safe as quickly as possible."

Marchiando said staff had practiced a lockdown scenario as recently as September to work out "kinks and "questions."

"Had we not done that, I'm not sure it would have gone as smoothly as it did," she said. "But ultimately once you go to lockdown, you give your input but get out of the police department's way."

Thomas, who was on the department's SWAT team years ago, said staff input was valuable when it came to learning the layout of the school. Every year, he said, police get updated maps, diagrams and contact information related to the school.

"Maneuvering through that school is a tremendous undertaking. I've seen the floor plans," Thomas said. "Waubonsie Valley is a mess with hallways that go nowhere, stairways everywhere and some tucked-away classrooms."

Thomas said he had not identified any flaws in the proceedings but he still had more debriefing meetings to attend.

On the school's end, Marchiando said she had some minor notes and questions that she would share with staff. The longer the lockdown lasted, however, she said it was obvious one very important thing was missing - "go buckets."

"You never think you're going to be locked in a room for five hours but now we will," she said. "We need to institute go buckets for situations when you can't leave to take restroom breaks."

She said the buckets were a staple in her previous district and included a bottle of water and "essential toiletry supplies."

Both Thomas and Marchiando praised the work of police and staff members for their handling of the situation and their patience. But both agreed the day ended without serious incident because a student was "brave" enough to come forward with what he saw.

"This kid saw that gun as a problem and a threat and he told officials who contacted police," Thomas said. "That kicked everything into gear."

Marchiando credited the relationship most faculty members and students share for the student coming forward.

"I cant even put into words how proud I am knowing that student felt obligated to come forward, even as frightened as he was," she said. "Without the comfort level, we may have had a very different result yesterday. That's just another example of how important it is to build those relationships."