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What is an ALICE lockdown? The alert issued to students during the Michigan shooting

School Shooting Michigan
Posted at 10:54 AM, Dec 01, 2021
and last updated 2021-12-01 13:35:18-05

Four students have died after being shot at a high school in Michigan on Tuesday. Seven other people, including a teacher, were injured.

The four people who were killed were identified as 16-year-old Tate Myre, 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin, and 17-year-old Justin Shilling.

The suspect is believed to be a 15-year-old student at the school, according to police. He was taken into custody and a handgun was recovered.

Police say the shooting lasted around five minutes, and students WXYZ spoke to say an alert went over the speakers for an ALICE lockdown.

ALICE is a training program for students and schools and is an acronym. It stands for: alert, lockdown, inform, counter, and evacuate.

According to the district's website, the school last held an ALICE lockdown drill on Oct. 7.

The description for each word in the acronym is below, from the Alice Training site.

Alert "Alert is when you first become aware of a threat. The sooner you understand that you’re in danger, the sooner you can save yourself. A speedy response is critical. Seconds count," the website reads.

Lockdown – "If evacuation is not a safe option, barricaded entry points into your room in an effort to create a semi-secure starting point."

Inform – "Communicate the violent intruder’s location and direction in real-time."

Counter – "Create Noise, Movement, Distance and Distraction with the intent of reducing the shooter’s ability to shoot accurately. Counter is NOT fighting."

Evacuate – "When safe to do so, remove yourself from the danger zone."

This story was originally published by staff at WXYZ.