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Police teaching metro Detroit students to fight active shooters in school

Posted at 4:50 PM, Oct 03, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-03 17:09:06-04

The shooting in Las Vegas has law enforcement officials reminding folks to have a plan in case of an active shooter.

Allen Park police are training teachers and students on a new response if they are faced with an attack.

Before, teachers and students were taught to huddle and hide out in the event of an active shooter is roaming these hallways.

But Allen Park police say they've found that method leaves them vulnerable.

Now, they are teaching them to fight back with something called ALICE.

"We don't want to live in fear but we do need to be smart as a society," said Sgt. Wayne Albright. "Our destiny is in our hands, in this classroom, right at this moment."

The new program is the exact opposite of what Sgt. Wayne Albright calls "huddle and hope."

"Lock the door and all huddle together in a corner and kind of pray that the shooter doesn't get in the room."

In the event of a shooter, if students cannot get out safely, they should barricade the door and be prepared if the gunman should enter.

"Distract and alter the shooter's ability to just arbitrarily shoot."

A few of the bigger students should be ready to take down a shooter while the other students spread out and take hard objects to throw.

"Hardcover books, a stapler, laptop computer, you've got a chair," Albright gave as examples.

ALICE stands for: alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate.

Sgt. Albright says it’s a scary world we live in, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

"Since Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, there's been 168 school shootings," said Albright.

More than 4,000 school districts across the country use this method.

Students, like 8th grader Riley Mullins, took the training seriously, even if it was just a drill.

"What would happen, what would I do, what would happen to the rest of my classmates," she said.

Albright added, "Most people think of police and fire being first responders, in this type of situation, the students, the teachers are the first responders. They are the ones that are actively involved."

The teachers from all of Allen Park schools will be trained on ALICE this Friday.

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