Mooney reflects on the swatting incident
By Terry Murry on Tuesday, March 21st, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
HERMISTON – After last month’s swatting report of an active shooter at Hermiston High School district officials and law enforcement are evaluating their responses. Hermiston School Superintendent Tricia Mooney said that there are always improvements to be made. However, she was impressed with the quick response from law enforcement officers from outside of Hermiston.
“There were uniforms you don’t normally see,” she said. “There were Umatilla, Stanfield, Morrow County, Boardman. I know I’m forgetting people. BENT showed up. Also we had Umatilla Fire District No. 1 standing ready on the street. The Department of Transportation sends a crew to handle traffic. Life Flight is standing ready if necessary, Good Shepherd Medical Center goes into its emergency protocol. Pendleton police were on the way.”
Mooney said she didn’t learn just how far people traveled to back up Hermiston police until after the fact.
“The sheer number of people that were ready to supply support was really overwhelming,” she said.
She was also proud of the students and their teachers.
“Our kids did exactly what they were supposed to do, which is listen to the adults that are there; and our adults did exactly what they were supposed to do, which is take care of our kids,” she said. “I know they were scared. It was 30 minutes that probably felt like hours.”
Editor’s note: Superintendent Mooney talks about that day in depth for the first time. All of her comments can be heard on KUMA Coffee Hour’s podcast at https://omny.fm/shows/coffee-hour-podcast.
