Missouri Military Academy holds active-shooter drill

EDITOR'S NOTE: A misspelled name has been corrected.

MEXICO, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Military Academy held an active-shooter drill Wednesday, to test their response in case an intruder ever made it into a building.

The all-boys private boarding school has more than 200 students. Most of the students live in the barracks on campus. There are over 250 security cameras throughout campus, and an operations center that all cameras can be accessed from.

The drill included a man walking into the building with a NERF gun.

The event was planned well before the school shooting at a St. Louis high school on Monday morning. Two people were killed at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, seven were injured.

"Today's exercise is about the safety and security of our cadets and staff," Richard Geraci, president of Missouri Military Academy, said. "This is a continuous process helping us make these plans the best we can. The only way to do that is practice and ensure everyone knows what to do in these situations."

Geraci stressed the importance of communication during drills like this, so if an emergency were to happen, everybody is on the same page.

"We want to work with local law enforcement and EMS to familiarize them with the protocol," Geraci said. "It is important for them to know the lay out of our school and facilities."

Troopers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol were at the school to observe the drill, as was Audrain County Emergency Management Director Carl Donaldson.

Audrain County Emergency Management is in charge of creating and developing emergency operations plans to protect people in the county from disasters.

"This school is definitely unique, but it's not different than any other school," Donaldson said. "This institution exists to educate its' students. Incidents like the one we trained for today exist in any school, and it's important that we're doing these exercises to test our plans."

In the event of an active shooter, some students play a role in the crisis response.

"Some students may be a squad leader or company leader," Geraci said. "Due to that, they are responsible for knowing where their classmates may be at all times. This keeps students accountable and there for their fellow peers."

MMA senior Anthony Melick is a Band Company Commander at the school, which means he is a leader holding responsibility over other peers making sure everyone is accounted.

"It's important that we practice even if there is a small chance of this happening," Melick said. "We need to be prepared."

There were about 20 people involved in planning this security event.

"We know we have to continue to do these drills to find our gaps and weaknesses to tighten them up," Maj. Thomas Roberts, a security officer, said.

According to Roberts, there were things he saw that needed improvement, but believes the drill went well.

"There are certain things we most definitely need to do better," he said. "However, we're practicing and just by doing it we're getting better.