In light of recent school shooting threats, authorities in the Owensboro area have maintained a strong, attentive presence at local schools. These threats include the recent event that occurred Wednesday, Oct. 19, when 20-year-old Dylan Jarrell was discovered by Kentucky State Police while backing out of his driveway with a gun and multiple rounds of ammunition.
According to a KSP news release, Jarrell was found with a firearm, over 200 rounds of ammunition, a Kevlar vest, a 100-round high capacity magazine, and a detailed plan of attack. KSP arrested Jarrell and charged him with two counts of second-degree terroristic threatening and one count of harassing communications.
KSP found Jarrell to be an imminent threat to both Shelby and Anderson County Schools in Western Kentucky. This news hits close to home for many who lived through and had loved ones involved in the Marshall County High School school shooting of January 2018.
Jared Revlett, Public Information Officer for Owensboro Public Schools, said the OPS district has increased their training and preparation in the event a school shooter should step onto their one of their campuses.
Both OPS and Daviess County Public Schools enforce a locked-door policy and visitors must show valid identification to gain access, as well as wear a visitor’s badge, but OPS felt it was important to further their safety training.
Revlett said faculty, administrators and staff teamed up with the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) over the summer for specialized training focused on handling the event of a school shooter on campus.
“For five to seven different days, this training put the staff through active shooter training,” Revlett said, adding that last year’s MCHS shooting raised a lot of concerns from students who felt nervous in the aftermath.
“It was an ‘active drill’ type of simulation,” Revlett said. “A deputy came in and fired off blanks in the hallway to emulate the sounds.”
Revlett said DCSO used an AR-15 modified for simulation purposes. DCSO also trained OPS staff in finding places to hide and what to do in the situation of a real event.
“Every teacher had the opportunity [to participate],” Revlett said.
Owensboro Police Department Public Information Officer Andy Boggess said OPD has implemented a years-long Adopt-A-School program that allows officers to make daily check-in with each school within city limits.
“Every officer is assigned a school, and they’re asked to check in with schools, be visible and learn the floor plan,” Boggess said. When officers work the night shift, Boggess said they’re still able to check the schools and make sure no one is there at night.
OPS School Resource Officer, Rick Latanzio, was assigned by OPD to patrol the school grounds. Boggess said, in the case of an active shooter, one of the biggest challenges for police is knowing the school’s floor plan, which is why OPD officers rotate schools and get to know the layout of as many schools as possible.
DCSO, meanwhile, has partnered with Daviess County Public Schools in providing school resource officers Deputies Gary Klee and Tom Whitford at AHS and DCHS, respectively. The DCPS board said these deputies know the school’s physical layout and are aware of who belongs on school property and who doesn’t.
Their three main objectives are to maintain a safe and secure school environment, act as teacher in leading classroom presentations focused on law-related topics and to act as an advisor to students, parents, teachers and staff in regard to law enforcement, substance issues and delinquency.
After legislation was passed in 2014 requiring schools to hold lockdown drills in the fall and spring semesters, the school resource officers along with Special Deputy Youngman of DCSO met with school officials to conduct lockdown drills for DCPS teachers. Since 2015, the drills have been proven to be highly successful, according to the Daviess County Sheriff Department’s website.
“As far as school shooters — active shooting scenarios — we train pretty extensively with active shooter training,” said Major Barry Smith, Chief Deputy at DCSO. He said they’ve trained DCPS faculty and staff the last three years and, as Revlett mentioned, began with OPS this year.
It isn’t always easy to prepare for the event of a school shooting, according to Smith. He said DCSO and DCPS have worked well together to address any concerns faculty and staff have had but, in the end, there’s only so much preparation you can do in comparison to an actual shooting.
“We do walk-throughs once a month, but you can’t prepare for some obstacles you face…trying to locate the shooter inside the school is the most difficult,” Smith said. “These incidents are usually over rather quickly, but the aftermath of seeing and dealing with that loss is really tough.”
