Seattle Central College will hold a lockdown drill tomorrow, Thursday May 31 at 10:45 a.m., for five to ten minutes. The drill will be announced over the P.A. system in the Broadway Edison building, and with a RAVE alert in other buildings around campus.
According to a campus-wide email from the Public Information Office, during the drill students should move to the “nearest safe location with lockable doors,” such as a classroom, then “lock the doors, turn off the lights” and silence anything that could make noise, especially phones.
Students, staff and faculty are to “stay away from windows and wide open areas,” and to keep “hidden and low” through the duration of the drill.
Director of Public Safety Sean Chesterfield says Seattle Central has not been holding lockdown drills on a regular basis, so it is important that we practice and stay prepared.
“The intent is not to create fear, but to empower students, faculty and staff to react appropriately if faced with various hazards,” he said in an email.
This drill comes after several school shootings around the country, including one that left eight students and two teachers dead at Santa Fe High School in Texas on May 18, as well as another last Friday at Noblesville West Middle School in Indiana that left a student and teacher wounded.
Seattle Central College has had incidents involving armed individuals in the past, such as in December of 2016 when former student Michael Jared Harris brought a rifle concealed in a guitar case to campus.
Guidelines on what to do in an active shooter scenario can be found on the Seattle Colleges website.
Ready.gov, a Department of Homeland Security emergency education resource, advises that members of the public plan and practice for these kinds of incidents. If a shooting were to occur, the best response is to evacuate the area if safe to do so, hide if not, or as a last resort, physically confront the assailant by any means available.
Students can sign up for alerts through the RAVE system here with their @seattlecolleges.edu address.
