Drills and Training Prepared Milton High for Tuesday’s Shell Casing Incident

Milton High School students stayed in their classrooms for over three hours on Tuesday while police dogs searched the facility for a weapon. Nothing was found after a student located what could have been a shell casing from a .22 caliber gun or a piece of construction equipment.

Milton Police called a “stay in place,” which means all students stayed in classrooms and teaching continued, around 11:20 a.m. The protocol was lifted at 2:50 p.m., according to Superintendent Mary Gormley.

First-year Milton High School Principal James Jette was in communication with various groups throughout the incident, Gormley said. The Principal announced the “stay in place” over the loudspeaker of the school and emailed teachers further instructions.

The school also called and emailed MHS parents about the incident.

“I think parents appreciated the call and the emails,” Gormley said. “The feedback over the phone was positive.”

Gormley said with the help of the Milton Police Department and specifically Sgt. Jack Richman, the Milton Public Schools hold training with staff and drills with students.

Drills, overseen by Richman, are held for both “stay in place” and “lockdown” scenarios.

By holding training and drills, Gormley said she felt all involved were confident and prepared during the real event on Tuesday.

 “We don’t want to disturb learning and we don’t want students and teachers to go through something like this, but I was very proud of the students and teachers,” Gormley said.

When a student brought a shell casing to Vice Principal Michelle Kreuzer Tuesday morning, the Milton Police Department was alerted immediately.

Police thought the casing might have been from a ramset gun, which is a powder-actuated tool, similar to a nail gun, used to fasten items to concrete or steel.

Gormley said that a construction company has been installing wireless in the school after hours. When the company doing the work said they have not been using ramset guns at Milton High, the police called for a search of the building.

“The Milton Police Department was incredibly cooperative,” said Gormley. “They are very collaborative.”