Training to target active shooters

Jul. 27—An increase in the tragic horrors of mass shootings, including those in schools, now has Pauls Valley's top school administrator lined up to attend a two-day training session.

Superintendent Mike Martin is set to hit the road early next month to take part in training designed to show people how to deal with situations like an active shooter.

Local school board members agree it's a good idea as during a recent meeting they approved the out-of-state travel for Martin to attend the training Aug. 3-4 in Arkansas.

"It's all about school safety. After the Uvalde school shooting I began thinking about ways to prepare," Martin said, referring to the tragic shooting at a Texas school only a few weeks ago.

"I started asking them what can we do different, what can we do better," he said, adding he met with school staff, local police and the sheriff's office."

All of that discussion led to what's called ALICE for short, which is a training program for situations like an active shooter in a school.

"There's been a lot of feedback that this is the best active shooter training they've ever been involved in."

The acronym stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate.

"It's not turning off the lights and hiding. It's not barricading the door," he said.

"It's about having a more aggressive response. It's about learning how to defend yourself and be proactive rather than just being sitting ducks.

"It's teaching teachers and students to fight back."

Martin says he plans to travel with Atoka's school superintendent, Jay McAdams, to the training. When he returns others in the PV school district will get the chance to learn more about active shooters.

"I'll go and learn what I can, come back and train our staff. I could let others go but I would rather I go do it myself, and I'll come back and train our staff.

"God forbid that anything like that happens here, but we're going to prepare for the worst and pray for the best."