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Lake Brantley High School in Florida made an error of epic proportions earlier this month when the school held an active shooter-drill. Text alerts went out to those in the school’s system which read “Active Shooter reported at Brantley/Building 1/Building 2 and other buildings by B Shafer at 10:21:45. Initiate a Code Red Lockdown.”
There was one problem, however.
The school never warned anyone that the entire thing was a drill, so there was a mass panic.
Students and parents began calling 911 before learning that it was a drill. Orange County school district spokesman Michael Lawrence said that the drill took place on December 6, according to the Daily Mail. You can listen to one of the 911 calls from a concerned parent below.
More information can be seen below.
What Happened?
An unannounced active-shooter drill at Lake Brantley High School in Florida sent students into a frenzy after text messages were sent out and began to spread on social media. The text message from the school’s alert system read: “Active Shooter reported at Brantley/Building 1/Building 2 and other buildings by B Shafer at 10:21:45. Initiate a Code Red Lockdown.”
After the news began to spread without any indication that it was a drill, students and parents were calling 911 in fear.
There was also chaos in the school when an announcement came over the intercom that said “This is not a drill” — which is probably not the best thing to say to students when the entire situation is, in fact, a drill.
Principal Trent Daniel later sent out a lengthy statement to parents.
“The unannounced code red drill was conducted in conjunction with the Seminole County’s Sherriff’s Office. This is standard practice in Seminole County Public Schools and required in order to be prepared for any potential threat. Based on the response of the teachers, staff, students, and the Seminole County’s Sherrif’s Office the Code Red drill went well and was ended by approximately 10:45 a.m.,” the email read.
“After the Code REd drill was over and classes resumed as normal, there was a campus disruption caused by a social media post. The post indicated a possible threat to the campus. Administrators believe that students are responsible for the posting. Specifically, the second incident is believed to have started in the cafeteria, simultaneously the post was disseminated to other students and parents. We are investigating the second issue as a disciplinary matter and all responsible parties will be disciplined.”
You would hope that the people responsible for holding an unannounced drill and negatively impacted the psyche of the children are responsible, too.
Where Is Lake Brantley High School?
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Lake Brantley High School is located in Altamonte Springs, Florida, approximately 13 miles north of Orlando. The school is home to approximately 2,800 students and is operated by Seminole County Public Schools.