It Does Happen. Be Prepared.

School emergencies do happen and mostly there are happy endings. This situation could have been a tragedy but the school responded in a way that protected everyone. Just shows that there is good emergency preparation is very important.

I really think that we should prepare for emergencies through scenarios like this one. We should collect these emergency situations and talk through how will will respond on a regular basis. I think this would be a fantastic way to take care of administrative inservice and collaboration. Lots of conversation and give and take.

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SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — A 15-year-old high school student who threatened a teacher with a loaded, cocked .22-caliber pistol today was disarmed and arrested without incident, a police spokesman said.

The East Valley High School teen aimed the gun at the female teacher when she refused his request to enter a classroom to speak to a girl he had broken up with yesterday, police Cpl. Dave Reagan said.

School staff, including Principal Jeff Miller, managed to disarm the student after coaxing him into a counselor's office.

The boy, who was not immediately identified, was arrested for investigation of second-degree assault and booked into the Spokane County juvenile detention center.

The school in this Spokane suburb, which was hosting more than 200 high school wrestlers from 16 area schools on Friday, was locked down for about an hour during the incident, with the wrestlers locked in the school gym.

The school provided police with notes the student had given to two teachers yesterday, thanking them for their help and apologizing for not doing well in school, Reagan said.

Miller told the Spokesman-Review the student will likely be expelled.

The prep wrestling match got under way on schedule this afternoon.