This is a special edition of our newsletter. 

 

On Friday, October 9, the peace and tranquility of our Newport School was shattered as there was a shooting at the school.  Yes, another school shooting.

 

But this time no one was hurt...  the Lake County Sheriff's Office was conducting a training exercise.  

 

 

 

I attended as part of the media and if I didn't know in advance that it was a training exercise I might have thought it to be an actual tragic occurrence. Frightening enough in its own right, I could only imagine how terrifying the real thing would be.

 

 

 

The simulation was intended to prepare first responders, school administrators, students, and the general public in the event a real shooting occurred.  Police and fire departments from all of Lake County participated as well as observers from school districts.

 

 

 

According to Sheriff's Detective Chris Covelli this simulation employed about 200 people and was one year in the planning.  For the record, live ammunition was not used.

 

 

 

Suffice it to say that our children, teachers, administrators, and school staff support will all be a little safer because of what was learned from this effort.

 

Lake County News-Sun writer Jim Newton was part of the media and wrote an excellent piece which appeared on the front page of the paper the next day, Saturday, October 10th.  Use your search engine to find it online if you're interested.