Montrose - Daily Press

Katharhynn Heidelberg

Daily Press News Editor

MONTROSE — Wednesday’s fatal hostage situation in Bailey, Colo. underscores the importance of school safety, local law enforcement and school officials said — and they are prepared for the worst-case scenario.

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“This unfortunate event does provide a real meaning to getting (safety) plans out and reviewing them with staff and making sure everyone knows their role if the unimaginable would happen here,” Montrose County School District Re-1J spokeswoman Linda Gann said Thursday.

At Bailey’s Platte Canyon High School Wednesday, suspected gunman Duane Morrison took six female students hostage and is said to have sexually assaulted some of them. He released four hostages before SWAT teams stormed the classroom. Both remaining girls fled; tragically, 16-year-old Emily Keyes was shot in the back of the head and died.

Morrison reportedly committed suicide.

“We always hope these events won’t occur here, but we can’t have that mindset anymore,” Gann said. “These horrible things could happen anywhere and we need to make sure our children and students are as safe as they could possibly be.”

Thursday found police representatives and Montrose County Sheriff Warren Waterman of the same mind.

The sheriff’s office is responsible for the Oak Grove Elementary and schools in the West End, though the latter are not part of the Re-1J Montrose district. The local district includes Olathe High School, three middle schools, six elementary schools, two charter schools and an early-childhood center.

“We have had training and we do have plans in place,” to deal with a shooting or similar critical incident, Waterman said. “But of course, we don’t want to go into detail about that, for obvious reasons. The entire department is committed to public safety and the safety of the kids that are in school. We will do whatever is necessary for as long as it takes to ensure that.”

School resource officers Scott Johnston and Trevis Booth took other Montrose Police officers through a refresher course Thursday afternoon, focusing primarily on Montrose High. An onsite training will be held in January.

“The high school is going through some difficult feelings right now,” Johnston said, referring to the Bailey shooting.

Johnston showed officers a floor plan of the high school and a copy of the fire and emergency procedure while explaining lockdown procedures. The procedures include a system to indicate whether anyone in a given classroom needs medical attention.

A detailed procedural book, including maps, overlays and photos of schools, will be carried by all on-duty officers, Montrose Police Chief Tom Chinn said.

“It’s a good time to jog people’s memories and get people to think about these types of things. I know people don’t want to, but it’s part of the reality in our world today,” he said prior to the training. “We are aware that these situations do happen. We’re going to be there.”

Montrose is also close to obtaining technology that would digitally record activity in the high school.

“In the event of a lockdown and you’re on the street, you can actually get on these (devices) and see what’s happening in the hallways,” Johnston said. “We’re going to be ahead of the curve.”

If a gunman should enter the high school, all area agencies, including the MCSO and Colorado State Patrol stand ready to respond. But the police might not be able to wait for Special Response Units.

“We don’t want to wait for SWAT to mobilize; we’re going to go in there,” Johnston said, explaining that containing the shooter would be the first priority, unless a hostage situation developed.

“If it seems to be turning into a hostage situation, we’re going to wait. If it turns bad before the SRU gets there, you’re going to have to make a decision, like they had to make yesterday (Wednesday),” Johnston said.

At Bailey, authorities had to decide whether to wait Morrison out and risk both girls dying, or to go in after he cut off communication.

“We had to try to save them,” Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener told the Associated Press.

In Montrose, each school poses a different challenge to law enforcement, so each has a site-specific plan.

Johnston said the high school is open-campus and it wasn’t feasible to close the campus. Still, he was concerned when he found 24 accessible doors there Wednesday during a walk-through patrol.

“Even though it is an open campus, I feel those are too many open doors,” he said.

Johnston also said three members of the public were able to wander into the high school library Wednesday. Though they were apparently looking for someone, Johnston said they hadn’t responded to staff members’ offers of assistance.

Gann hadn’t yet received reports concerning Wednesday, but said the information was an opportunity to adjust policy. “That will be one thing we’re going to be looking at. We need to reinforce that in all our buildings,” she said.

All newer district buildings have the latest technology and safety features and there are backup security features in older buildings, Gann added.

“We want our children safe. If we need to tighten some things, we’re going to tighten them up.”

The school district practices lockdowns with students and teachers, Gann said. It also issued communication with school principals Thursday morning, concerning how to broach the Bailey incident with students.

Parents can also access school communications and other information through the district’s “parental portal” online. Some 3,000 parents are currently registered at the secure site.

“We’re just devastated that this has happened again,” Gann said of the Bailey tragedy. “Our hearts and thoughts certainly go out to the Keyes family and that whole community.”

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