Click here to see the video

It was a mock exercise that had all the look and feel of the real thing. The empty halls at Flat Rock Middle School during spring break provided the venue for crisis training in hostage taking and negotiation designed to hone the skills of Fayette County Sheriff’s, Fire and EMS personnel.

The mock event that led to the incident at Flat Rock occurred when Ryan Weber struck his wife Lindsey during a Wednesday morning argument. Weber was distressed over returning from a tour in Iraq two months ago to find his marriage in shambles and his wife Lindsey wanting a divorce. In the ensuing argument, Weber struck his wife with a blow severe enough to end her life. In a panic, Weber drove to Flat Rock for his son Brennen.

With that basis, the stage was set for the training exercise at the middle school. Weber arrived at the school office searching for his son. As the exercise began, a call from a school resource officer (SRO) was received by 911 at 8:50 a.m. The SRO advised that he was responding to a domestic-related situation between a parent and school office staff at the middle school. Only minutes later the SRO activated the emergency call button on his walkie-talkie. Attempts by 911 staff to raise the officer were fruitless. As deputies were dispatched to Flat Rock, an unidentified male using the walkie-talkie called out on the radio stating, “Everyone better back off or you’re gonna have a blood bath.”

Within minutes, shots were fired with two students, a school employee and a parent caught in the crossfire. It was then that Weber pulled the school resource officer into a teacher’s work room, laying the groundwork for the standoff that would soon follow. From there the mock scenario continued to unfold, with calls coming in to 911 from students and teachers, advising dispatchers that shots had been fired and that students had been injured or killed.

Word of the crisis passed quickly, with law enforcement, fire and EMS personnel converging on the Jenkins Road school. A command center was set up outside the school just yards away from a van housing the negotiations unit. Negotiators went to work, establishing communications with Weber and beginning the tedious process of bringing the crisis to an end.

Also outside, deputies had filed into the school parking lot, followed by a Fayette S.W.A.T. team and Fayette Fire and EMS. Once in place, the S.W.A.T. team maneuvered in tandem through the school’s front door, moving slowly and deliberately down the hall toward the teacher’s work room, securing classrooms on both sides of the hall as they progressed. The team reached their location only feet from the room where Weber and his hostage were located. Shielded by a corner in the hallway, the team held their position, guns drawn, while negotiators outside talked with Weber, trying to keep the incident from getting any worse than it already was. But those efforts came to an end when Weber, having donned the resource officer’s clothing, dragged the officer into the hallway alcove in apparent hopes of deceiving the S.W.A.T. team. Then in only seconds, Weber failed to yield, reaching instead for his gun and swinging it in the direction of the team. The end came quick, as Weber was hit and felled by officers standing no more than 10 feet away.

The simulated hostage exercise Wednesday morning was intended to be a training scenario for the unthinkable, or what was once unthinkable in America. Those days are long since gone.

“This is something that really could happen at any time,” said Fayette schools Deputy Superintendent Fred Oliver, commending the Fayette Sheriff, Fire and EMS personnel for their diligence in the exercise and also noting the significance of Fayette County schools in preparing for such an incident. “Fayette is the first school system to have a safety plan.”

Fayette EMS Capt. Pete Nelms was one of the observers of the mock exercise at Flat Rock. He, too, commended the Sheriff’s Office for their participation and the county for taking a leadership role in the training scenario.

“Fayette County and all counties are responsible for implementing Presidential Directive 5, the National Incident Management System,” Nelms said, referencing the local training that has already occurred. “The exercise today was part of the process where agencies work together collaboratively.”

Fayette Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Belinda McCastle assessed the exercise in terms that brought it home all too clearly.

“The primary goal today was to respond to a crisis by bringing in law enforcement, fire and emergency services. We can never negate the fact that this kind of thing can happen here,” McCastle explained.

Agencies participating in the exercise included Fayette Sheriff’s S.W.A.T., hostage negotiation, traffic and other personnel, Fayette Fire & EMS, Atlanta Corrections Negotiations Team, Fayette County Board of Education and Georgia Emergency Management Agency.

login to post comments