School bus drivers learn how to prepare for ‘active shooter’ cases (+video)

In January 2013, an Alabama school bus driver named Charles “Chuck” Poland Jr. was shot and killed while trying to protect the students on his bus from an armed gunman.

On Friday in Wichita, hundreds of Wichita-area school bus drivers heard details of that case, including a dramatic 911 call, as part of a training session on how to deal with active shooters and other emergencies.

“You have a very difficult job and a very important job,” Wichita superintendent John Allison told the First Student drivers and bus monitors, who gathered at Central Community Church for the in-service training.

“Our society has changed. Active shooter training – that wasn’t even in the vocabulary as we look back. But it is today,” he said. “And you’re key to what we do.”

Gary Moore, safety coordinator for the Missouri Center for Education Safety, spent about two hours explaining what happened on that rural bus route in Dale County, Ala. He showed photos from the crime scene and played a recording in which a 15-year-old student near the back of the bus provided a running account for 911 operators.

The driver, while heroic, made some mistakes – such as opening his bus door to talk to the suspect – that he might not have made had he been trained in how to anticipate and react to intruders, Moore said.

“We have failed,” Moore said.

“We’ve had tunnel vision on the teachers, the administrators and the students, and we’ve looked right past the cooks, the secretaries, the maintenance (crews) and bus drivers. And shame on us.

“If you’re not part of the active-shooter training in your schools, whatever that is, find out if you can be part of that.”

All Wichita district employees and First Student bus drivers watch a video about the “Run, Hide, Fight” intruder response plan, a strategy supported by many educators and law enforcement agencies after mass shootings like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The strategy urges people confronted by a shooter to either escape to a safe place, take cover or attempt to disarm the intruder, using improvised weapons if necessary.

Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of places to run or hide on a school bus, said Moore, a retired Missouri Highway Patrol trooper. He urged drivers to continually be aware of “JDLR” situations – anything that “just doesn’t look right.”

Drivers should quickly report suspicious activity, refuse to let strangers on the bus, and even drive past stops and keep children on the bus longer if something or someone seems out of the ordinary.

“You don’t have to be scared, but you need to be prepared,” he said. “And a little training will go a long way.”

Think you’re being followed? Circle the block, Moore advised. If the car’s still behind you after a full circle, report it to dispatch or law enforcement.

Parent or other relative approaches the bus and wants to talk to you? Shut the door and ask him to address you through the driver’s side window.

If a violent person does make it onto a school bus, Moore said, be prepared to use anything you have – a fire extinguisher, a broom, even your own body or the bus itself – to disarm or disable the intruder.

“If somebody gets on your bus with a gun and says, ‘Take off,’ say, ‘You’ve got it,’ ” he said. “Go down the road, and at 25 miles an hour, hit that lock brake and send him flying.”

Any element of surprise, such as a punch to the throat or kick to the groin, could buy the driver and passengers precious seconds to disarm the intruder or escape, Moore said.

“Once you start in, you can’t just be involved. You have to be committed,” he said. “Folks, you’ve got to have that attitude. If you don’t have that attitude, you need to reevaluate whether you want to do this or not.

“At some point, somebody’s got to step up and say, ‘I would give my all.’ ”

Terri Bell, who started driving for First Student in April, said Friday’s training was helpful.

One day during her first few months on the job, Bell said she refused to let a student off at his normal stop because a man claiming to be a relative was there but acting strangely. She held the boy on the bus until she saw his father.

“We’re working with children every day of our life, and we do have to protect them,” Bell said.

“Everything he spoke of today is very important because this stuff happens. We can’t just pretend it doesn’t happen or hope it won’t happen.”

This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 5:48 PM with the headline "School bus drivers learn how to prepare for ‘active shooter’ cases (+video)."