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The only risk from a Pinconning school's latest lockdown was to law enforcers speeding there.
Bay County's sheriff is annoyed that no one gave his agency a heads-up about a pre-holiday safety exercise that triggered an emergency response.
"We had total chaos," Sheriff Troy Cunningham complains. (Photo: Bay County Sheriff's Office)
"For four minutes, we had total chaos with everyone thinking there was an active shooter and responding as such," Sheriff Troy Cunningham tells The Bay City Times. "No one knew it was a drill."
The paper describes what happened in mid-Michigan three days after last week's Texas school slaughter:
"We were under the assumption there was an active shooter at Pinconning High School," [Sherif's Lt. James Chlebowski] said. "Apparently, staff knew it was a drill but the students did not know it was a drill. They were not notified, nor was 911 notified. ...
"That's a big deal. We're pulling out all the stops."
(Photo: Pinconning Area School District)
Last Friday afternoon's false alarm, according to the MLive group newspaper, initially came from a teen who "was told by a janitor to go into a locker room due to there being an active shooter in the hallway."
The student then texted his mother from the locker room, telling her he believed there was a shooter in his school and that he was scared.
The mother in turn called 911, who began dispatching police. As word spread, other parents also began calling 911. ...
Bay County Central Dispatch personnel were eventually able to contact school authorities.
By then, deputies, state troopers and Bay City officers were racing to the school on rain-slicked roads. Deputies from Midland and Arenac counties also had been dispatched.
In contrast, there was no confusion this week when Bay City Western High School staged a mock lockdown after Memorial Day weekend. Students and police knew it was only a test, not a real emergency.
The paper says it couldn't reach the Pinconning principal or superintendent.