9/3/2013 12:27:00 PM Officials learn lessons from shooting at Sandy Hook
Capt. Kevin Torgerson of the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office, left, speaks to school, community and fire officials about emergency preparedness at Stewartville High School last Tuesday, Aug. 20. The event was titled “Operation School Readiness II.”
Editor
As much as they want to protect their children, parents should not go to a school immediately after a shooting has been reported there, Capt. Kevin Torgerson told a group of Stewartville school, city and fire officials last week.
Torgerson, the director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for Olmsted County, said that authorities learned some important lessons from what happened after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. about 8 1/2 months ago.
Concerned parents who had heard about the shooting drove to the school and parked their cars along a narrow road nearby, Torgerson said. There were so many cars in the way that emergency crews couldn't reach the school, he said.
"The school was on a narrow road at a dead end," he said. "The road was flooded by parents and cars before the first responders could get there."
Torgerson urged school officials and parents to work together to determine a specific site where parents should go to wait for their children after a shooting or any other serious emergency situation. The site could be a church, a business or a city building, he said. Parents and children would be reunited there after the emergency situation passes, he said.
"The last thing we want (parents) to do is to jam up the streets in the area where we're at so...
For more on this story pick up your copy of the Aug. 27 Stewartville STAR.
Article Comment Submission Form
Please feel free to submit your comments. You may remain anonymous. Article comments are not posted immediately to the Web site. Each submission must be approved by the Web site editor, who may edit content for appropriateness. There may be a delay of 24-48 hours for any submission while the web site editor reviews and approves it.
Note: All information on this form is required. Your telephone number is for our use only, and will not be attached to your comment.
