Police seriously spooked students at Jewett Middle Academy in Winter Haven, Florida, when they conducted an unannounced “lockdown active shooter drill” at the school Thursday morning.
According to Fox 13 in Tampa, two police officers entered classrooms armed with guns shortly after the principal announced to students and faculty that the school would be going on lockdown.
“A lot of people started getting scared because we thought it was a real drill,” recalled Lauren Marionneaux, a seventh grade student. “We actually thought that someone was going to come in there and kill us.”
Terrified, Lauren sent her mother Stacy Ray a text message about the situation.
“I’m panicking because I’m thinking that it’s a legitimate shooter is coming, that something bad is happening at the school,” Ray explained.
Eighth-grader Xavier Tate and his mother Cherrise Tate spoke to “Fox & Friends” Sunday about the drill.
“All of sudden there was a gun barrel,” recounted Xavier. “We didn’t know it was a drill. We thought it was a gunman [coming] right through the door.”
His mother expressed similar distress.
“When a friend called and told us there was a shooter at the school my husband … raced to get to the school,” said Cherrise. “He was so afraid. All he could see was Columbine.”
The school identified the drill as a “lockdown active shooter drill” in an e-mail that parents received after the incident.
“Parents, students and staff are typically not notified about lockdown drills,” Polk County Schools said in a statement Thursday. “For example, we do not give advanced notice of fire drills in order to evaluate how safety procedures work.”
Furthermore, Winter Haven Police Chief Charlie Bird emphasized the importance of such a surprise drill, assuring that it is meant only to “protect the children” by helping prepare them for such situations.
However, the Winter Haven police decided Friday that such drills will be conducted “by uniformed officers without weapons” in the future.
