Mitchell district’s lockdown policy reviewed after fatal Ohio incident

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• 1 dead, 4 wounded in school shooting

After a school shooting left one dead and four wounded in Ohio Monday morning, Mitchell Superintendent Joe Graves contacted the people in charge of the school district’s lockdown procedures.

“They make the determination whether to discuss the incident,” Graves said.

The Mitchell School District has had a lockdown procedure in effect since prior to 2000 when Graves became superintendent. It is in place for events like a school shooting, he said.

Officials in Ohio have said Daniel Parmertor was the Chardon High School student who was killed.

The suspect’s name was not released because he is a juvenile, but students, parents and media outlets have identified him as T.J. Lane. The suspect was arrested shortly after students and a teacher chased him from the building. Police arrested him at his vehicle outside the school.

Eyewitness reports, according to the Associated Press, say the shooter was a junior at the high school and had placed a message on social media stating he was taking a gun to school. Apparently, no one took the reports seriously.

Graves said the Mitchell School District takes any reported threat seriously, whether the threat is made at school or outside the school. Key personnel check the school’s lockdown procedure at the beginning of each academic year and any time deemed necessary, such as after a shooting, Graves said.

He added that district received grant dollars in 2003 for new “electronic mechanisms” to lock down district buildings. These mechanisms — which only a few people know how to activate — can be initiated from within the buildings or remotely.

“They can be activated from China if need be,” Graves said.

He said the procedure is limited to only a few people to prevent any hackers from infiltrating the system.

Tags: news, updates, schools, shooting, lockdown, policy, mitchell, local