Communication key to protecting residents during South Middleton shooting frenzy
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Article RatingIt’s not every day that more than 20 police officers and members of the Special Emergency Response Team are called out in Cumberland County. But when it happens and when weapons are involved, it takes coordination to ensure the safety of emergency responders and residents.
On Tuesday night, a “heavily intoxicated” Kyle Edwards grabbed a pistol and a shotgun, threatened two men and began firing into the woods behind his South Middleton Township home.
Police were on the scene within 15 minutes of the 911 call to county control, surrounded the home and remained on the scene for about nine hours before taking Edwards into custody.
No one was injured during the incident, which closed Old Town Road and prevented school buses from picking up students.
Parents notified
South Middleton School District officials were notified by police of the situation and the road closure.
Parents of students who live along the road were called by district officials and told that the buses would not be arriving as usual.
“We called the individual parents involved,” said Patricia Sanker, South Middleton School District superintendent.
The district has an automated message notification system that can contact parents in the district through customized phone calls and e-mails in order to alert parents and students to weather-related schedule changes and other emergencies.
She said the automated system was not used Wednesday. “It affected just a small group of parents,” Sanker said. “Had it been a larger scale, it would’ve been used.”
Sanker said the district is working to customize the automated system so that it can be used to contact just certain groups of students -- for example, on a bus route -- in an emergency.
Since its inception earlier this year, the automated notification system has been used only for emergencies that relate to the school district, such as weather closings and delays, but notification systems such as South Middleton’s could be employed in other local emergencies that affect more than just students and parents.
“I don’t think that’s been considered by the school district or by members of our department,” said Sgt. Jonathan Mays of the State Police Carlisle Barracks.
Sanker said the district would consider using the notification system to alert residents to other emergencies.
“Absolutely,” she said.
But it would have to be a major incident.
“We’re careful when we use it,” Sanker said. “I really try to use it judiciously so it is used only when there is an emergency.”
Safety first
Neighbors who live next door to the Edwards home were told by emergency officials to stay inside and away from windows, while residents who live further down the road in the rural, heavily wooded area were not notified of the situation.
According to state police, safety was the top concern, and protocol for handling an incident varies.
“Each situation is going to dictate how we’re going to handle it,” Mays said of notifying or evacuating residents during an emergency.
In this case, Mays said, the heavy tree cover provided protection from any discharged bullets.
“The area in harm’s way, we had people pulled back and contained in the home,” Mays said. “We thought that was the way to go.”
It helped that the incident occurred at night.
“If this would’ve been in the daytime, when people are out mowing their grass and things, we would’ve moved more people out,” Mays said.
After the adjacent neighbors were informed and police determined that Edwards was inside his home, police secured the perimeter of the home.
“Our members were within the danger zone. SERT gets in real close. They’re trained to do so,” Mays said. “They’re in harm’s way.”
Unusual incident
Edwards, who has a military background, was armed with a 9 millimeter semi-automatic pistol and a 12-gauge shotgun. It made for a dangerous situation.
“Every incident we go into, there is a potential for weapons to be involved,” Mays said. “If you are a road trooper, you have to take that into account. We bring guns.”
But police are trained to handle such emergencies. Edwards was taken into custody without incident early Wednesday morning as he attempted to leave the home to go to work.
Fortunately, Mays said, incidents such as this are rare. “I think this is uncommon,” he said.
