By By Lisa Tindell – news editor
With guns drawn and tactical gear in place, members of the Brewton Police Special Response Team converged on the campus of Brewton Middle School Friday.
During the hour-long incident, hundreds of students were led from their classrooms to safer positions on the campus.
Two “gunmen” held five students hostage in the school gymnasium during the mock lockdown at the school.
Members of the Brewton Police Department and the Special Response Team, along with other emergency response agencies, dealt with the simulated dangers during a planned drill on the school's campus.
The scenario involved the taking of hostages by two men with guns who had entered the school campus taking cover in the school's gymnasium.
Brewton Middle School principal Doug Prater and Brewton School Superintendent Lynn Smith were on hand to oversee the operations of the drill.
Smith said plans would be made to determine how best to remove students from the campus completely in an emergency situation.
Smith and Prater agreed moving students to the campus of T.R. Miller High School would probably be the best decision.
During debriefing by McGougin, members of the Special Response Team who performed the main portion of the drill gave information that could be valuable in a real emergency situation.
McGougin said future drills such as the one Friday will be held in coming months.
Other agencies participating in Friday's drill included the Brewton Fire and Rescue Department, D.W. McMillan Ambulance Service, Escambia County Emergency Management, Castleberry Police Department. Dennis Adams provided the use of helicopter surveillance for the drill as well, McGougin said.