What happens if a mad gunman takes hostage a pupil in his own classroom?
That’s what 50 pupils found out yesterday in Naga City Central School.
Police cordoned the area and asked the children to vacate their classrooms while a police negotiator tried to talk down a “dangerous” man who demanded for firearms.
It was all a drill.
After two hours, the “hostage-taker” was fatally shot when he stepped out of the classroom.
The grade school students were rescued by operatives of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and the Naga City police. The whole scenario was supervised by the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) to teach local authorities how to deal with such emergencies.
“This is a very big help for us,” said Nenita Canomon, school principal.
“With this, we already know what to do in these situations.”
She said the school requested for the police drill after after a commotion broke out in the public school last Feb. 14 over a false alarm about a hostage-taking incident. Firefighters and medical personnel took part in the drill.
Senior Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, CPPO chief, said the drill was successful even as he noted areas to improve.
For one, SWAT members lacked protective head gear. Coordination between the assault team and the ground commander also needs to be improved, he said.
It was the second time this year that a hostage-taking simulation was conducted. The first was done in Danao City. More drills will be done around the province.
Comendador said the activity was made after hostage-taking incidents of civilians in 2011 in Carmen Copper Corp. and in Argao town in 2012./Correspondent Joy Cherry S. Quito