Preparing for the Worst Case Scenario

A number of people have requested permission to share this post on their blog. PLEASE DO! Everyone who works with children needs to know there are things they can do to minimize the loss of life in crisis situations. Please share this post any way you can. Repost it. Tweet it. Facebook it. Email it. Print it for those who don’t use digital media. Use it to start discussions with this who make the decisons regarding school safety in your school. Please include a link back to this post so Kris can answer any questions that people may have.

My name is Kristofor Still (@kris_still).  As you have probably guessed by now, I am married to Beth Still, who is the author of this blog.  Before I dive too deep into this guest blog that Beth has asked me to write, I feel you need to know who I am and the level of experience I possess in my fields of expertise.

I have been in Law Enforcement now for almost 19 years; the last 13 years have been with the Scotts Bluff County Sheriff’s Department in Nebraska.  I have been a SWAT team member for the last 11 ½ years and a SWAT sniper for the last six years.  I am also one of the department’s two firearms instructors.  In May of 2012, I was given a great opportunity as I was one a select few from across the state who were able to gain a certification as an Active Shooter Response Instructor.  I now teach a two day class to area Law Enforcement Officers along with my Sergeant, Troy Brown and Scottsbluff Police Officer and fellow SWAT team member, Ian McPherson.

As most of you probably know by now, today was one of the most horrific days in the history of the United States.  A killer walked into the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and killed 20 children and 6 adults.  Of those killed, a majority of them were Kindergarteners.

When something like this happens and innocent children are killed, it tears at the hearts of a nation.  Destroying what we as parents hold dearest to our hearts shock us to the core.  It makes us realize how fragile life really is and how one crazed, sick person can take it away in the blink of an eye.
As I mentioned above, I am one of three instructors in our county that teach active shooter response to our area Law Enforcement Officers.  Because of this, my wife knows that I am passionate about making sure that our officers are prepared both mentally and physically to go in and meet this evil head on and terminate it as quickly as possible in order to stop the killing.

Like most parents across our nation today, we talked at great length when Beth arrived home from school about what we can do as Law Enforcement Officers and Educators to stop this from happening.  Beth came to me because she knows that I have also in the past gone to two of our area schools and provided them in-put on ways the school and teachers can protect themselves and the children.  The sad thing about all of this is that my advice fell on deaf ears.  I know that neither school followed through with any of the recommendations provided to them.  I believe the reason that nothing was done was two fold.  First of all, too many administrators fall into a comfort zone and genuinely believe that this kind of evil will never happen here.  The second reason is because of the all mighty dollar.  In both schools that I went to, I talked about purchasing certain items that could be used to aid teachers in protecting and or keeping intruders out of their rooms in the case that they were unable to escape.  I felt that in both cases, I lost them once it came down to spending money.

I am often asked by people and teachers what they need to do in the case of active shooter in the building or school in which they are located.  I start off by telling them to follow the acronym A.D.D.  This stands for AVOID, DENY, DEFEND.  I tell teachers, administrators, law enforcement officers, and citizens the same thing.

AVOID:  Escape the scene as quickly as possible.  If you are able to run, do so until you are sure you are in a safe place.

DENY (entry):  If you unable to get out, barricade yourself in a room.  Pile all of the furniture and heavy items in front of the door as possible and then quietly hide in the room in an area that would provide cover and concealment from an active shooter who wants to try to shoot into the room.  Remember that an active shooters main goal is to kill as many people as possible to provide the greatest shock factor to his or her audience.  They do not like to get hung up on a closed and locked door.  This will slow them down too much for them to effectively accomplish their mission or goal.  Most likely, they will move on.

DEFEND:  If you are unable to escape or secure yourself in a safe room, you need to fight for your life.  Find any items that you can use as a weapon.  These are items of convenience such as a fire extinguisher, coat rack, trash can, chair, etc.  If you are able to, find others in your same position that are of the sound mind and body to assist you in fighting for your life as well as the other innocent people who could fall victim to the senseless killing that is happening.

Another major problem that I am seeing in our schools is that our teachers are given a policy or a flip chart to follow in times of an emergency.  This may work if you are talking about a fire drill or tornado drill, but teachers need leeway in their decision making when they are dealing with an active shooter.  Most teachers are by nature known to be rule followers.  This creates problems as they tend to fall back on a flip chart or policy and ignore that sixth sense about what they should do.  The way I describe this to our new law enforcement recruits is by telling them that if something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t.  Learn to follow your sixth sense and do what you feel is right.

Early on in this post, I spoke about certain in-expensive items that I recommended these schools purchase for each teacher or each room.  Below is a list of these items that I recommended to them and am now recommending to you.

1)      Tactical door wedges.  These can be found on-line and typically cost between $15 and $20 a piece.  These secure the door to the floor from inside the room, so the door can be permanently locked.  If done properly, the only way you can open the door is to tear it down with an axe or chainsaw.
2)      A claw hammer with a long handle.  These can be used as both a weapon to fight with or a tool to break and rake windows to aid in escape if your room has exterior windows.
3)      Medical kit to include a tunicate and a clotting agent.  Remember that the first responders that are entering the building are not there to provide medical attention to those that are injured.  They by-pass the injured and going straight to the threat so they can stop the killing as quickly as possible.
4)      Rope or fire escape ladders.  To aid in escape through an outer window if you are on the second or third floor of a school or structure.
5)      Emergency blankets.  These can be used to help comfort the wounded or to throw over the broken glass in a window pane prior to escape.
6)      Cell phones or emergency radios for each classroom.  Communication is key to any law enforcement officers or tactical teams arriving on scene.  If you are able to provide pertinent information to police dispatch, you can aid in response time by providing the locations of the shooter(s) inside the structure.
7)      A box, tote, or five gallon bucket to hold all of these items as they are stored in a safe place inside the classroom.
As you can see above, these are not high priced items.  Push your administrator to purchase these for each classroom and tell him or her why you feel it is important.  If they refuse to help your school, find ways to make this happen on your own.  Some of the items above may be lying around your house or garage and could easily be transported to your school.  The rest that needs to be purchased could easily be justified as inexpensive life insurance policy.

As an educator you are responsible for protecting your students if at all possible.  Too many times in these cases of school shootings, there were red flags that many noticed, but failed to report until after the unthinkable happened.  If you see or hear something that you consider to be red flag with a student, report it.  Start by telling an administrator or counselor.  If this fails and you believe they pose a true threat, talk to one of your trusted law enforcement officers.

In closing, I want you to ask yourself this; could you live with yourself if you failed to prepare, act, or report a possible future threat that resulted in the death of a student, wife, husband, son, daughter, grandparent or co-worker.  You owe it to yourself and your students to be their first line of defense by educating yourself and making good sound decisions!

Interesting. This provides some insight into why some people are so prone to bullying others online.

Setting the Record Straight

I have little patience for people who lie and purposely and maliciously cause emotional distress for others. I have chosen to share what has been going on in my life for the last month with the hope that you will join me in supporting law enforcement officers.

My name is Beth Still and I am the wife of Kris Still, a Scotts Bluff County deputy sheriff. I have been married to Kris for nearly 19 years and during this time I have gotten to know quite a few of the deputies and their families. One of the deputies that I have gotten to know well is Ray Huffman. He and my husband work very closely together at the department and during the last 13 years we have come to think of Ray as family.

On September 22, Ray was working a part-time job as a patrol officer in Lyman, Nebraska. He came across a Rottweiler that had managed to escape from his kennel. There are two articles as well as a statement from the attorney who represents the Village of Lyman linked on the right side of this blog so I will not go into too much detail here. In a nutshell,  Ray tried to get the dog to go back to his kennel. The dog lunged at him so he used pepper spray to subdue him. When the dog lunged at him again he shot the dog with his duty pistol. The shooting, while sad, was completely justified. Ray is kind, calm, and controlled. He is not the vicious monster that he has been made out to be.

Raul Ayala was the owner of the dog. Within hours of this incident, a Facebook group was set up to give people a place to lend support to the family. While there are some people on the site who have genuinely supported the family, there are many others who have used the site to promote their own agenda and personally attack Ray, other law enforcement officers and government officials. Most recently, a couple of people have harassed and attacked me on this Facebook group. They frequently accuse me of commenting on various sites using a variety of aliases.

This group of people continuously demand “justice” and make bold statements about having the right to speak their minds yet they are quick to bully and attack everyone that does not agree with them. The Newton family has been very outspoken on the Facebook group. It is evident that Tyler Newton is the driving force behind the group.  Tyler and others have accused both Ray and another law enforcement officer of being “murderers.” They have gone after Ray with a vengeance, not because they care so much about the dog, but because they are hell-bent on getting revenge. They believe Ray murdered one of their family members back in 1997. The summary of the case is linked to the right of this post. Ray was never charged with anything and the case was dismissed from civil court twice. Ray was also never demoted to a desk job like they claim.

(There is a link to the video of the dog getting shot in the next paragraph. It is footage from surveillance cameras that was re-recorded on a cell phone. It contains language that is offensive.) 

The "evidence" against Ray, when taken out of context, is quite damning at first glance. The owners of the dog released a  video clip taken by one of eight (yes, eight) surveillance cameras at their home that they claim shows Ray shooting the dog multiple times as it was running away from him. However, if you watch the video very closely you will see that by the time the dog appears in the clip he has already been shot. Once Ray and the dog come into view Ray only fires one more shot. The owner of the dog provided the Star-Herald a copy of the necropsy which stated, “Wounds were in the upper left front leg, right pectoral area, two wounds were in the thorax and one wound, caused by a "bullet trail" was present on the right cheek.” This report is consistent with Ray’s version of the incident. The family and their "spokesperson" claim that video taken from a different angle proves that Ray murdered their dog. I think the video, if any other footage exists at all, will show an aggressive dog lunging at Ray and how he had to use deadly force to protect himself.

A few closing thoughts......

• There is no “dog catcher” in Lyman. As is the case in many small towns, the police officers are responsible for animal control.
• Ray turned in the report of this incident prior to the end of his shift on September 22. The police are not required to turn over ANY report with the exception of accident reports. A representative from Ayala’s legal team will have to make that request.
• So many people have accused Ray of getting rid of “crime scene evidence” because he hosed the blood off the patio. What evidence could possibly have been gained from the blood? He never tried to hide what happened. He was trying to save the family the pain of having to see the blood. The body of the dog was placed in the yard just feet away from where he died.
• Police officers must make decisions in the blink of an eye. It is very easy to criticize them and say what they should have done differently when you are sitting in the comfort of your living room.
• Look at the facts before making a judgement call. Ayala was given one week after filing a complaint with the Village of Lyman to provide evidence that Ray committed a crime. Nothing was provided so there was no investigation because there was nothing to investigate. You can’t cry foul and say there is a cover-up if YOU are the one withholding evidence that you claim proves Ray murdered your dog in cold blood!

This blog is our place where we can support Ray and other law enforcement officers. Please feel free to leave positive comments for these wonderful people who put their lives on the line each day to protect and serve us. I have the blog set to accept anonymous comments so you can protect your identity if you need to do so. All you need to do to leave a comment is click the button below that says comments. Select "Anonoymous" from the dropdown menu.

THANK YOU to each one of you who works so hard to make western Nebraska a safe place to live.