File photo of an empty classroom. (credit: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images)
MARIETTA, Ga. (CBS Atlanta) — Marietta Public Schools have added “panic buttons” to its schools in response to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
WGCL-TV reports that these “panic buttons” will immediately place a call to 911 when pushed by school officials.
“Once that happens, we send everybody we have to that school until we can determine what the exact cause of the threat is,” Marietta Police Officer David Baldwin told WGCL.
Safety plans for schools were updated following the Newtown school shooting where gunman Adam Lanza killed 20 students and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. He also killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, before the mass shooting.
“You can’t help but think about your own children and the children that you were sworn to protect,” Baldwin says. “Because of that you really want to do whatever you can to safely protect.”
Other schools are also using “panic buttons.”
Teachers and staff at the Orange Beach Elementary School in Alabama wear these buttons around their necks in case of emergency.
According to The Associated Press, once the button is pushed, the school goes on lockdown with students locked inside their classrooms.
(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
