Students could learn shooting protocol

SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) - Every time there is a public shooting, the ALERRT program at Texas State University dissects and evaluates the emergency response to see what improvements can be made to save future lives.

And they were paying close attention to Newtown, Connecticut on Friday.

“Elementary schools traditionally do not have school resource officers,” said Terry Nichols, the assistant director of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center.

It is one of the reasons Nichols believes school buildings provide the biggest challenge, and terror, when a shooting takes place.

“When a gunman walks into an elementary school, that is the weakest point of our society.”

Despite their efforts to improve response, even ALERRT admits the perfect response may not be enough to save everyone’s life.

“The amount of time from the first shot until the time police get there can be 30 seconds, but a lot can happen in 30 seconds,” said Nichols.

That is why the reaction to emergency situations like the one in Newtown has to begin even before officers arrive.

The “I Love You Guys” Foundation has developed a course of action that could be adopted as a nationwide standard much like the “stop, drop, and roll” standard for fire prevention.

Lockout, lockdown, evacuate, shelter.

The foundation believes those four commands are easy to remember, easy to follow, yet flexible to suit almost any situation.

“They are four simple terms a kindergartner can learn and they are teaching them at that level up through high school,” said Nichols who believes the standard response protocol will be adopted in central Texas soon.

The “I Love You Guys” Foundation was created by a father who lost his daughter in a 2006 Colorado school shooting.

The last text message he received from his daughter read “I luv you guys.”