Chief Turley among victims in mock school shooting incident

MATTAWA - If Mattawa Police Chief John Turley ever tires of law enforcement, he might just consider an acting career; he knows how to die dramatically after being shot.

Turley was one of many actors who helped the Grant County Sheriff's Department, Grant County Fire District No. 8, The Mattawa Police Department, Mattawa Schools administrative personnel and the Washington State Patrol practice their response to a school shooting last week at Wahluke High School.

Although the drill was serious business, there were a few chuckles and laughs. It took some practice, but the actors, including about 17 young people from Moses Lake, really got into their parts.

If there would have been an award for best leading actor, it would have been split by Turley and the man who shot him, the Mattawa School District office's Luis Medrano.

The best actress in a leading role was Wahluke High teacher Samantha Sanders. She was the crabby wife of Medrano.

The plot was that a feuding couple was bringing the high school into their quarrel by fighting over their daughter at the front entrance to the school.

Each was trying to convince the school people that the other should not be allowed contact with daughter. It is a rather common occurrence, said School Security and Safety Coordinator Shelby Jensen, a 14-year veteran.

According to Jensen, the front door scene was for testing school staff readiness at the first line of defense. Staff was good all three times, with different school staff each time.

However, in the fourth (complete) enactment, the crabby wife, Samantha, found a slightly open door and sneaked past the office staff into the building. Office worker Brisa Sanchez ran out of the office to restrain her physically, but she couldn't. Sanders ran through building to the back looking for her daughter.

Then Medrano, a bellowing, belligerent malcontent of a husband arrived. He made it to the second set of doors and began pounding on the glass of the inner doors.

Office staff allowed Medrano in, hoping to calm him, and avoid broken glass, but he drew a pistol and started looking for his wife and daughter, all of the time yelling at the top of his voice.

The trigger-happy Medrano ran through the commons, shooting students and adults along his path. There were major and minor injuries, perhaps some deaths, and a whole lot of crying, moaning and screaming.

Medrano found Sanders and chased her back toward the office. There he shot her, She died, slumping like a sack of potatoes to the floor. That was when Turley, the first law enforcement officer, arrived.

Turley didn't even have a chance to see Medrano. He turned toward Medrano and was hit by gunfire. He dived to his left, landed on his side, rolled onto his back, thew out his arms and expired.

Things went quiet for a moment as Medrano went into the office and took staff there hostage. But there was crying, moaning and screaming in the commons. One actor protested angrily about the lack of help.

Looking for his daughter, Medrano ran out of the office with a re-loaded gun and ran to the east wing of the building. Just then, a Grant County SWAT arrived. With Medrano out of sight, office personnel allowed the SWAT in.

SWAT entered cautiously, looking to get control of the situation. One of them checked on Turley at the door, where he fell. Assured that he was dead, they moved on to the office.

With Medrano still out of site, the SWAT evacuated the office personnel out of the building. Then they started moving through the commons, looking for Medrano amidst the crying, the groaning and complaining.

"Help me please!" "Help my friend!" "Help my baby!" the SWAT officers heard as they ignored the injured while searching for the shooter.

One of the SWAT officers suggested the injured help each other as much as possible until they eliminated the threat. Then he asked if anyone had seen the direction Medrano had taken. They pointed to the east wing of the building.

The SWAT officers headed that way and encountered fire immediately. A running firefight ensued as Medrano and the SWAT ran through the wing and around to the kitchen area. There Medrano was caught between just-arrived State Patrol officers and the SWAT. He fired to the end, but they took him out.

Calm was restored, and rescue personnel from Grant County Fire District No. 8 went to work treating the injured.

The exercise was organized by Jensen and Grant County Sheriff's Deputy Joe Harris, the school district student resource officer. Harris directed the actors.

Before the start of the exercise, Harris told everyone these mock school shooting drills are held because of real incidents across the country, including Oregon and Washington recently.

Turley said the mock incidents are a good idea. He sees them being used more and more as the country heads into the future.

Turley said the aftermath of a shooting here could be as bad, or worse than the shooting itself. Tight security perimeters at a distance would be needed.

"We've got lots of parents with guns in this community." he said. "You mess with their kids, and they'll be here in a hurry."