Active School Shooter Drill Held at Valley View High School

Archbald, Lackawanna County - A school shooting. It's something that police officers and teachers never want to happen.

After the recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut last year and other schools across the country, police in northeastern Pennsylvania are aware it could happen here.

As students had the day off Friday in the Valley View School District, teachers were still in school.

With the help of police officers, the Lackawanna County SWAT team and sheriff's deputies, everyone learned what to do if a shooter ever entered the school building.

The scenario looked real and it felt real for those involved.

"Several years ago things were different and right now, it's a much more serious and scary climate for teachers, students and administrators in school so this time it had a much greater impact," fifth grader Tracey Dempsey said.

The scenario involved a gunman getting into the high school and going down hallway-after-hallway opening fire. Police did not know what the scenario would be.

Officers had the task of finding the shooter and taking him/her down.

They say every drill is a learning process.

"There were calls that were being made today to go to Hallway B or Hallway C," Archbald Police Chief Tim Trently said. "We don't know where Hallway B or Hallway C unless they're marked properly and these are standards that we're trying to make."

Teachers also learned what to do during an emergency. Those things include locking doors, covering windows and keeping calm.

"It's just like practicing a sport or anything else," Dempsey said. "Once you practice it you have an idea of what to do, where to go, try not to panic."