New panic alarm system at Georgia H.S. saved lives during shooting, officials say. Advocates want it nationwide.

September 5, 2024 | Melissa Chan - NBC News

A new panic alarm system that was triggered during Wednesday’s deadly shooting at a Georgia high school likely saved countless lives, authorities and advocates for the technology said.

Lockdown warnings flashed on classroom screens at Apalachee High School as gunshots rang out, prompting students and teachers to lock the door, turn off the lights and huddle in the farthest corner from the entrance, witnesses said.

At the same time, alerts automatically went out to law enforcement officers, who responded and ended the shooting rampage within minutes, according to Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith and Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey.

“The protocols at this school and this system activated today prevented this from being a much larger tragedy,” Hosey said at a news conference Wednesday night.

Apalachee High School teachers all wear ID badges with their photos and panic buttons that, if repeatedly pressed, will notify authorities about an “active situation” or emergency at the school, Smith said.

“That was pressed,” the sheriff said.

Stephen Kreyenbuhl, an Apalachee social studies teacher, said the small button is on the back of the badge. If the button is pressed four times, administrators and school resource officers are contacted. If the button is pressed eight times, the sheriff’s office is also notified.

Kreyenbuhl, 26, whose classroom was near the gunman, said the emergency procedure had already been initiated before he heard the first gunshots.

He followed protocol and then prepared to either defend himself and his students with a pair of scissors in his back pocket or die.

“I definitely felt like death was in the room for a second,” he said. “I did accept the fact that I might die.”

Kreyenbuhl, a third-year teacher, said it was the first time the panic button had been triggered at Apalachee, which has been in session since Aug. 1.

Smith said the panic alarm system at Apalachee, powered by Georgia-based safety solutions company Centegix, has only been in place at the school for about a week.

Other companies also offer technologies that claim to improve real-time reporting in emergency situations, NBC News has previously reported.

Centegix, in particular, advocates for Alyssa’s Law — a measure, passed in seven states and introduced in nine others, that would require schools to install silent panic alarms that are directly linked to law enforcement.

The legislation is named after Alyssa Alhadeff, who was killed during the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The 14-year-old was fatally shot trying to hide under a classroom table, her mother said.

Since then, Alyssa’s mother, Lori Alhadeff, has been advocating for ways to make schools safer, including panic buttons.

“I wish it never had to be used,” she said. “I wish there was never a school shooter, but I know that Alyssa is saving lives. Every press of that panic button, Alyssa is saving lives.”

Authorities said two students and two teachers were killed and nine others were wounded during the attack at Apalachee High School, an hour outside of Atlanta.

The student victims of the shooting have been identified as Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, who were both 14. Math teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, were also killed.

On Thursday, Smith told NBC News that Centegix sent alerts of an active shooter at Apalachee High School to the Barrow County Sheriff’s office around 10 a.m. Wednesday.

The company also sent authorities GPS coordinates of the person who triggered the alert, he said.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers were already on the campus when the sheriff’s team arrived, Smith said. “When we got there, we basically went into action,” he said.

Smith said that, within five or six minutes, school resource officers confronted the suspect and took him into custody.

“They gave him verbal commands. He dropped the gun and went on the ground,” the sheriff said. “They’re telling me within six minutes of the first Centegix hit on the thing, on the alert, that he was in custody by that time.”

Smith said the county opted to invest in the Centegix system about a year ago, although it was just implemented about a week and a half ago.

When a campuswide alert is initiated, Centegix “notifies 911 dispatch, activates full audio and visual communication, and delivers precise location details with a map displaying who needs help and where they’re located,” according to its website.

The technology also has a “staff alert” function that can be used for medical emergencies or student altercations.

In a statement, Centegix CEO Brent Cobb said the company is “deeply saddened” by the tragedy. “We remain committed to fostering a culture of safety within schools and working with our partners in law enforcement and emergency management to protect our communities,” Cobb said.

Smith praised Apalachee leaders for following proper protocols during the chaos. “They followed it to the letter yesterday,” he said. “And because we did that, we prevented many, many more deaths.”

Smith said the suspect, Colt Gray, was new to the Barrow County school district. He had enrolled about two weeks ago and allegedly opened fire with an AR-style weapon on his “first real full day” of class, the sheriff said.

“Emotionally, it’s hard, because I feel like this, that Colt Gray moved here, he took advantage of the system and thought that he could get away with it and didn’t,” Smith said. “But he is an evil person that took out some people.”

Federal authorities said the suspect was investigated last year for making online threats to carry out a school shooting.

He was charged on Thursday with four counts of felony murder and taken to a regional youth detention center in Gainesville, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. The bureau said additional charges are expected and the suspect is scheduled to have his first court appearance Friday morning.

Smith said that the suspect had been cooperating with authorities and that he would be charged as an adult.

The latest school shooting is a reminder that every second counts in an emergency, Lori Alhadeff said.

From 2018 until now, 90 people have been killed in 35 school shootings, according to NBC News’ tracker, which focuses on the segment of school shootings where an active shooter, with intent to harm, injures or kills at least one student or faculty member during school or at a school event.

“We never thought that this would happen where we lived,” Alhadeff said. “I know it’s the greatest fear of any parent.”

Alhadeff said Alyssa’s Law decreases the time it takes for first responders to arrive.

Since 2019, New Jersey, Florida, New York, Texas, Tennessee, Utah and Oklahoma have passed the bill. Georgia is one of the nine states that have introduced it.

“Time equals life,” Alhadeff said. “I know that we helped to reduce the number of casualties.”

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-panic-alarm-system-georgia-high-school-saved-lives-shooting-offici-rcna169754

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