School uses masked gunmen firing blanks in surprise 'drill'

Pine Eagle Charter School students were at home for an in-service day Friday when two masked men armed with handguns burst into a teacher meeting room and opened fire.

"It was shocking," said elementary teacher Dollie Beck, 54. The Oregonian reports that surprised staff had received training from the Union County Sheriff's Office on active shooter scenarios, but no one was expecting a drill like this.

Principal Cammie DeCastro said it was clear that "not many" of the school's 15 teachers would have survived. "There was some commotion," DeCastro said. Elementary teacher Morgan Gover, 31, said she "got a couple in the front and a couple in the back," adding that only two teachers would have lived.

Beck realized she would not have recognized the sound of gunfire. "I would have blown it off as kids' sounds in the hall," she said. She said she now keeps her classroom door locked and considers windows as escape routes.

The district's Safety Committee and the School Board will now evaluate policy. Tougher doors and locks could be an option, as well as either armed teachers or trained and armed volunteers who would patrol the school in shifts.

"We are so remote," Gover said, "we are going to have to take care of ourselves."