Gurnee schools train to handle emergencies

Gurnee Elementary District 56 Superintendent John Hutton knows the value of being ready to handle an unimaginable scene in a school.

Hutton and other District 56 administrators went through a drill Tuesday to see how they'd react if they were told about a bank robbery across from Viking Middle School on Old Grand Avenue.

Gurnee police crime prevention technician Tom Agos, who helped to craft the exercise, gave the administrators good marks for how they handled themselves. He also credited Hutton for rethinking his initial reaction of wanting to race to Viking to assist there.

Before going through the scenario that Gurnee police sprung on the administrators Tuesday, Hutton recalled how he was an assistant superintendent in Valparaiso, Ind., when a high school student slashed five classmates with a machete in November 2004.

"We need to be prepared," Hutton told the District 56 group.

Under the scenario created by Gurnee police, Detective Jim McDermott informed Viking Principal Pat Jones that authorities were notified about the bank robbery. The fictional time and date was 9:03 a.m. May 14, 2009.

Several minutes later, the incident escalated from a lone suspect having a bomb inside the bank to hostages inside the building. A bomb threat was then called in to a church near O'Plaine School at 9:15 a.m., followed by a warning of possible mass casualties received by the Gurnee Fire Department seven minutes later.

Jones said his first move would have been to declare a "yellow lockdown," so no one was allowed to leave or enter Viking Middle School.

Evacuation of students and staff would not have been a good immediate move, Agos said, because there was not enough credible information about what was happening at the bank. Hutton agreed a quick evacuation didn't appeal to him.

"I wouldn't know what I'd be sending these kids out into," Hutton said.

Hutton said he would be in charge if a serious incident occurred near District 56's four schools. Agos suggested Hutton could operate from a police command center established for major crime or disasters.

Agos said district leaders can't be concerned about what police are doing in an emergency situation. He said they must be prepared to handle the schools on their own, which was the reason for Tuesday's practice.