The anticipated away boys soccer game against Urbana High School on Monday, September 12 came to an abrupt finish when there was an announcement to get inside because of a reported shooting.
“I’ve always thought about what I would do in this situation, but the first thing that clicked was fight or flight.”
Senior Jack Buckelew
Getting on the bus that day, all the players do what they normally do before a game: get some shots up, run a couple of sprints, and get some stretching in. When the announcement came up on the intercom, everything changed. “I was a little confused and didn’t know what to do. The first thing I wanted to do was get in contact with my dad to tell him I was okay. I grabbed everything I had and followed the crowd inside,” said senior Jack Buckelew. He added, “I’ve always thought about what I would do in this situation, but the first thing that clicked was fight or flight.”
Regarding the tone inside the building, senior Tucker Willamson said, “It was loud and a little scary. We didn’t know what was happening, and all of the people were packed inside one hallway.” In order to break the tension and lighten the mood, Williamson said, “Our coach and a player from Urbana had a dance off. Coach Mumm was doing handstands, while the Urbana kid was doing flips. The whole dance off helped me take my mind off the situation that we were in.”
School shootings are becoming more and more common, so like many other area schools, Monticello High School has adopted the ALICE protocol for active shooter response. Because this was a threat outside the building, Williamson said, “We really didn’t do anything we learned in the drill. They told us to go inside and sit in one hallway. There were so many entrances that the shooter could have come in, the drill was pretty pointless.” Buckalew added, “We really couldn’t use the ALICE drill in the situation we were in. School was not in session, so it was just the soccer players and coaches. If the supposed shooter walked in, the only thing you could do was run.”
Many people don’t think they will ever be in this situation, and while, fortunately, no one was hurt, and all of the students came home safe, this experience proved eye-opening.
Biniam Lienhart, Staff Writer
liebi23@sages.us
The Sage Informer 
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