School district plans to arm students with rocks as protection against school shooters

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (KTRK) -- As schools around the nation grapple with how to best protect their students against a potential gunman, a school district in Pennsylvania has come up with one concrete solution.

The superintendent of the Blue Mountain School district is in the spotlight after telling state lawmakers his students will protect themselves against potential school shooters with rocks.

"Every classroom has been equipped with a five-gallon bucket of river stone. If an armed intruder attempts to gain entrance into any of our classrooms, they will face a classroom full students armed with rocks and they will be stoned," said Dr. David Helsel.

Dr. Helsel says that one stone can inflict a lot of pain and distract a shooter.

"At one time I just had the idea of river stone. They're the right size for hands. You can throw them very hard and they will create or cause pain, which can distract," said Helsel.

Helsel says teachers, staff and students were given active shooter training through a program known as ALICE which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate and they routinely hold evacuation drills for active shooter simulations.

Students and teachers apparently like the plan.

The district has no plans to arm teachers, but each school will train and certify a maintenance worker to carry a gun. The rocks will be a last resort, according to Helsel.