ACTIVE SHOOTER CONFERENCE BEFORE CLASSES START IN KENNARD

By Greg Ritchie

Messenger Reporter

KENNARD –   The Houston County Sheriff’s Department held another of its active shooter conferences for local school districts. Kennard Independent School District (KISD) was the site of the latest conference Friday, Aug. 5.

Teachers and administrators gathered in the administration building to hear the presentation by Houston County Sheriff Randy Hargrove and Chief Deputy Roger Dickey. 

As the presentation began to a full house, the two warned the audience this would not be “PC,” or politically correct. The presentation was a realistic and sometimes brutal look at how fast these incidents can happen.

The Sheriff used video from real world incidents to show both how humans can freeze in certain situations, and how heroes who were more prepared can save many lives. 

Sheriff Hargrove said Kennard could be a target because the school sits right on Texas Highway 7. The Highway sees traffic from many areas outside of Houston County. 

“We live in a different world now,” Hargrove told attendees. “We need to change the way we think. In fact, the next active shooting event to happen in the country is probably now already being planned.”

Kennard ISD superintendent Malinda Lindsey told the group the school board will be taking up a motion next week to hire an SRO for the schools. ‘SRO’ or school resource officer is a sworn law-enforcement officer with arrest powers who works, either full or part time, in a school setting.

Hargrove and Dickey told examples in this area of potential deadly situations being avoided because others were on the lookout for warning signs. Their recommendation was a three-part plan: Avoid, Deny, Defend.

Avoid is to see the warning signs and seek help for people that show signs of possible vioience to themselves or others.

Deny is to deny the person access to the school and the classrooms. This includes checking doors and identifying people coming and going from campus.

Defend means to defend, with a mindset that ‘I will come home tonight.’

Hargrove said, “We are not the first responders. It can take several minutes for law enforcement to arrive. Really, you all are the first responders.”

Hargrove and Dickey spoke about the situation in Uvalde and the lessons learned from that tragedy. For example, all Houston County law enforcement and first responders share the same radio frequency and can communicate.

The two were passionate in the presentation and let the group know that things in Houston County would turn out much different than they had in Uvalde.

“Even if only one officer responds to an active school shooting at a school,” Hargrove insisted. “That officer is going in. Even alone. If we have to drive a truck through the school to get in – we are going in.”

Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]

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