How to act in the face of an assault? Police enter campuses to teach mechanisms

The death of 11-year-old Sebastián, who three weeks ago was hit by several shots when he was in the middle of the crossfire in a cafeteria in the south of Guayaquil, generated a commotion. From there, specialists began to give recommendations on how to act in complex situations and the schools have begun to give their students guidelines so that they know how to handle an assault or kidnapping.

This week, at the Ecomundo Educational Unit, located on Juan Tanca Marengo Avenue, students, parents and teachers were trained on these topics. There were more than 900 students, half of them connected electronically and the other half in the courtyards.

On Monday it was the turn of the children from second to eighth of basic education and this Tuesday it was the turn of those from ninth to third of high school.

All attentive listened to the agents of the Anti-Kidnapping and Extortion Unit (Unase), experts in hostage rescue. The uniformed officers gave them guidelines and carried out various exercises with the students.

What to do when gunshots are heard? The agents said that first you have to stay calm, not run, throw yourself to the ground and cover your head with clasped hands, without making any movement and never raise your head.

Recommending “never to raise the head and the body completely off the ground”, the experts took out a group of students who sat in front of the rest pretending to be in a restaurant. Suddenly, a recording of shots was heard and an armed, plainclothes policeman entered the scene, posing as a thief, threatening the students and demanding their cell phones.

While this was happening, the other officers corrected the youths’ posture, told them how to cover their heads, but there was also a policewoman who called the minors by their names and told them: “Come here.”

Although one of the students was about to run towards the police, he finally reacted and stayed on the floor.

“If you hear the voice of your parents telling you to run, don’t do it, stay on the ground until everything happens. Do not take out your cell phone to record because the offender may feel threatened by any movement, he may think it is a weapon and he is going to shoot, “said Lieutenant Jonathan Páez, who led the exercise.

So they took all the students by surprise several times, who had to throw themselves on the ground and protect themselves under the chairs, even the parents and teachers were part of the drill.

Gabriela Carreño, mother of a ninth-year-old boy, accompanied her son in the training and threw himself to the ground twice during the exercise. The woman got up and brushed off her clothes.

“The exercise took me by surprise, I thought it was just going to be a talk, but now with everything that is happening in the city it is better to be prepared and these tips are so important,” said the mother of the family.

But the minors were not only trained in the event of shooting. Lieutenant Páez asked that a vehicle enter the campus yard and showed them what measures to take in case of having to take a taxi on the street and how to act in the face of an extortionate kidnapping.

When you get into a taxi, take a photo of the license plate and send a family member. If you go alone, it is best to sit next to the driver. In addition, they must check if the child lock is activated that prevents opening the door and lowering the glass to call for help.

“If they are going to try to break a glass, they must hit at the ends, in the center it is very strong and it will not be easy,” said the policeman standing next to the car.

Another important recommendation that Unase gave was to activate the SOS message on cell phones, an application available on all phones since 2013 that allows us to notify three family members and the ECU911 that we are in danger.

“Family members receive photos, audio recording and location immediately,” so we have rescued many people, said the agent. (I)