Err on the side of caution
Published 9:57 am Friday, January 23, 2015
The motto of the Boy Scouts of America is “Always be prepared.”
This week when a student at Ohio University Southern thought he or she saw an armed intruder at the school, local law enforcement and school officials found out just how prepared they were to handle that kind of situation.
Although the situation turned out to be non-threatening, the entire ordeal showed how quickly and efficiently police and school officials worked to defuse a possible school-shooter scenario.
On Wednesday at about 4 p.m., it was reported to a professor that a possible shooter was on campus. That professor notified school administrators who then initiated a lock-down of the campus and alerted police.
Within minutes, law enforcement from the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Ironton Police Department were on the scene and notification of the lockdown was issued through various campuswide communication channels.
As it turns out, the intruder wasn’t an intruder at all, but a Brink’s employee making a pick-up of money from the ATM on campus.
If the situation had been dangerous, it is a relief to know that school officials, students and local law enforcement personnel were quick to act and took the situation very seriously.
The entire situation just goes to show it really is better to be safe than sorry.