Everyone safe at SCC after scare last week
PHOTO BY WANDA BURNETT
“Law enforcement did a phenomenal job reporting to the career center yesterday (Thursday, March 7),” began Tracy Bear, Director of Career and Technical Education at the Southeastern Career Center in Versailles. Bear was referring to the local units who responded to the potential threat at the technical school that a student could possibly have a gun on campus.
Bear went on to say that the principal and school resource officer had the student in the principal’s office when law enforcement arrived. She said police officers did “an incredible job” completing a thorough sweep of the building, classrooms, labs and the outside area around the school. “There was no gun found. There was no weapon found.”
At first when social medias began to report on the situation, they said there was no threat and it was a “soft” lock down. Savannah Steele, a student at the school (home school is Jac-Cen-Del) said, “I’m a student at the career center – this was definitely NOT a soft lock down. We were hiding. We were scared. People were crying.”
Steele said her teacher grabbed a fire extinguisher in her hand in case someone would come in the classroom where they were taking shelter. “There was nothing soft about this. I saw the look on my teacher’s face and heard the fear in the woman’s voice on the intercoms. I heard yelling from the hallways. She said she feared for her life, along with classmates who shared the sentiment. “To the people saying it was a false alarm, it disgusts me.”
Bear said the school was notified by the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department of a potential threat at which time they immediately notified local police and put the school on lock down. Police immediately arrived at the school located on US 50 in Versailles. Only after authorities responded and conducted a thorough investigation did they determine there was no threat to the safety of the students or the staff. Steele’s account was confirmed.
“Once I received word that we were in the clear, students were released to buses at approximately 2:33 p.m.,” Bear told the Osgood Journal last Friday morning.
South Ripley Community Schools made a statement Thursday afternoon saying the incident did not affect the South Ripley School campus.
The Southeastern Career Centers serves students from Batesville, East Central, Jac-Cen-Del, Jennings County, Lawrenceburg, Milan, Rising Sun, South Dearborn, South Ripley, Southwestern and Switzerland County.
