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County stages crisis scenario: Emergency personnel respond to school shooting, chemical spill JEFF FISHER
Murphy – The first two gunshots thundered across Murphy High School’s campus at 9:05 a.m. Tuesday, prompting Principal Jerry Brackett to put a “Code Red” into effect. Custodians hustled to lock doors throughout the campus as school officials, teachers and a group of Advanced Placement chemistry students huddled in classrooms. Outside, an officer on foot gave chase to a gunman racing from the agriculture building through the front lawn using a hostage as a human shield. At 9:12 a.m., two more shots boomed through the main building as an armed four-man team of officers moved along the exterior wall outside the gymnasium. Minutes later, more shots drummed inside the main building and the alarm sounded. Cherokee County’s Emergency Management Services, various law enforcement agencies, fire and rescue teams reacted to the escalating circumstances. Fortunately for those trapped on campus, this was only a simulation designed to test the chemical decontamination abilities of the county’s Specialized Medical Assistance Team and assess how the responding agencies handle a crisis situation.
Angela McClure, a Murphy Elementary School teacher acting as a student during the drill, was one of the first people released from the main building. She walked out of a northern exit with her hands clasped overhead, asking for guidance. McClure had been in Room 320, where she said a gunman fired two shots.
While McClure wandered aimlessly, a group of six students pretending to be disoriented from the attack stumbled out of the main building and into the parking lot. The students said they were suffering from chemical burns on their faces and glass fragmentation injuries to their abdomens. “It was realistic,” Matthew Van Horn said. “There was gunshots everywhere. We had to leave our best friend lying on the ground.” Jacob McClain and Luke Johnson were in the chemistry lab with Van Horn when a gunman broke through the classroom door and fired two rounds. The three seniors said within seconds their visibility was limited to about five feet because fog machines were used to simulate a chemically contaminated situation. An officer assigned to direct the wounded guided the three students to medical aide, where they were rerouted to a decontamination site. The N.C. Hazardous Materials Regional Response Team and an engine from the Murphy Volunteer Fire Department stationed two inflatable tents where all contaminated patients were being escorted. Shortly before 10 a.m., Brackett, who had been “shot” twice in the stomach, was ushered to “decon,” as Sheriff Keith Lovin referred to the site. On his way to receive treatment, Brackett passed one of the shooters, who had been detained. Handcuffed at a picnic table, the gunman was being interviewed by Murphy Police Chief Justin Jacobs and sheriff’s Investigator Roger Williams. During the interview, another suspect, who Lovin identified as the second shooter, arrived in the area as law enforcement officials continued to secure the main building. “That’s the guy that was in our room,” a woman in the parking lot who was released from Room 320 cried out, pointing at the second gunman taken into custody. At 10:12 a.m., Lovin said things were going “good,” but he was too busy to elaborate. Rescue operations continued inside the main building as those exposed to the contaminated area received attention. Sitting on the front lawn, Caleb Mathews, another senior student who was in the chemistry lab, said he’d sustained chemical burns and was supposed to be unconscious. Mathews said the response time from when the lab filled with smoke until he was helped to safety was about 15 minutes, and the process seemed very realistic. Dispatch made its first announcement over the radio at 11:30 a.m. that the drill was over. Comprised of paramedics, fire and rescue personnel, SMAT, which Emergency Medical Services director Jeff Ledford described as a “rapid decontamination team,” is the westernmost of 29 such units functioning throughout North Carolina. The team is designed to deploy to any local chemical, biological or nuclear emergency within 30 minutes and organized to respond to similar situations anywhere inside state borders within two hours.
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One of the drill’s evaluation officials told her to go out
into the parking lot and see how long it takes for someone to lead her
to safety. About 40 minutes later, McClure said an officer pointed her
in the right direction.
