TOLEDO, Ohio — On the same Friday the Ottawa Hills school district was locked down to a swatting call -- a fake school threat intended to draw a large police response -- Findlay City Schools practiced new active shooter drills as over 800 staff, faculty and community members participated in comprehensive training under the SafeDefend system.
Interim Superintendent Krista Crates-Miller wants to change the fear surrounding these events into power for her staff to make decisions in life-threatening situations where they need to quickly choose whether to run, hide or fight.
"This is not an era of being reactive and hoping it doesn't happen," Miller said. "This is an era of Findlay City Schools that we are safer than the day before."
Authorities all over the community will be notified in seconds of the exact location of the shooter, where the nearest exits are and more information crucial to securing the situation.
SafeDefend's Director of Training, Gregory Vecchi, said the company wants to make the response as easy as possible since it can be hard to remain calm and make the best decision in intense situations.
"Anyone can do this, even under pressure," he said.
Staff and faculty are the only ones who can access the box through a one-touch system, according to the city of Findlay's fire battalion chief Matt Cooper, who is also the board president of Findlay City Schools.
"It immediately goes out to all on-duty and off-duty firefighters, police officers, Ohio State Highway Patrol and HSO," Chief Cooper said.
He said the installation cost about $800,000, but $200,000 of it was donated through a community foundation and the city. Findlay Mayor Christina Muryn said it is worth every penny, because "every day we didn't have this system in place was a day we were further at risk."
Jennifer Stillings, a seventh-grade teacher in Findlay City Schools, said she is proud of the system's installation and how it makes her and everyone else at the schools feel safer.
"I'm very proud not only to be a teacher in this community, but a parent in the community and a member," she said.
Cooper and Vecchi both said they hope Findlay will become a blueprint for the future of school shooting interventions.
"I know there are parents out there that don't understand it, but from an emergency response standpoint, it is absolutely a game changer and I do believe we are a model of the United States," Cooper said.