The Winona –Montgomery Consolidated School District held an active shooter drill Wednesday morning at Winona Secondary School. Dr. Teresa Jackson, Superintendent of Education, said the Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District Police Department, the Winona Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, Mississippi Highway Patrol, Winona Fire Department, and MedStat participated in the exercise.
“It went very well, we learned some things, and there are some things where we have to get better,” Jackson said. She said the drill took place at 9:20 a.m. and lasted about 15 minutes.
“I didn’t even know what time it would start. I was just told it would be mid-morning,” Jackson said. “We wanted it to be as realistic as possible, so we had a guy acting as the shooter with a bulletproof vest on, and we watched him on our cameras. We tested out our camera system as well as our communication system with local law enforcement.”Jackson said she believes students saw the importance of the drill.
“A teacher can go in and shuts the door, and it’s taken very seriously, but you can get complacent.” She said the drill taught students what to do in real-time.“I think it went great, and we had great thinkers already there,” she said.
Jackson said there would be a follow-up meeting, and Winona-Montgomery Consolidated team, along with local law enforcement and first responders, will all sit down and talk about what happened and ways the active shooter plan can be improved.
“I appreciate everyone working with us on this,” Jackson said.
