Beverly High Students, Staff Part Of Active Shooter Drill

BEVERLY, MA — Beverly High School students and staff took part in a test run for an event they hope will never occur in reality Wednesday as they evacuated the school in an active shooter crisis safety drill.

Beverly police assisted in the drill that was expected to last about 10 minutes.

Parents and residents nearby the school were advised it was only a drill.

"Please don't be concerned over extra activity on campus," Beverly Police Chief John LeLacheur said.

According to an ALICE training website:

In the event of an active shooter, the minutes that pass while people are waiting for police to respond are crucial. The ALICE acronym exists to help you do everything you can to save yourself and others.

What does ALICE mean?

Alert – Alert is your first notification of danger. Maintain good situational awareness to overcome normalcy bias and ensure the best response to a critical incident or violent intruder.

Lockdown – Barricade the room.

Inform – Communicate the violent intruder’s location and direction in real-time. To do this, pass on real-time information using any means necessary. Examples are video surveillance, 911 calls and PA announcements.

Counter – Not to be confused with fighting, this step involves creating noise, movement, distance and distraction. Its intent is to reduce the shooter’s ability to shoot accurately.

Evacuate – Safe and strategic evacuation techniques get people out of harm’s way. Understand how your current environment impacts your ability to evacuate and discover the safest ways to do so.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)