Meriden Resident Testifies Before School Safety Group

Meriden resident Thomas Fitzgibbons testified before legislators during the Jan. 25 public hearing held by the School Security Working Group, which is reviewing current law and recommendations to enhance school security in the wake of the Newtown massacre.

State Sen. Dante Bartolomeo (D-13th) of Meriden is a member of the committee.

The following is Fitzgibbons' full testimony:

Adam Lanza could have been shot dead by an armed law officer as soon as he started shooting out the windows of the door he entered to get into Sandy Hook Elementary School. No one with a firearm was there to stop him before the killing started. Do people try to rob armored car trucks? Not most of the time, because the guards have firearms on them. Shortly after the Sandy Hook incident, I read an article about an armed security guard who shot a person who ran into the lobby of a movie theater while chasing someone else he wanted to harm with the gun he had. He fired at the officer, missed and fire was returned at the assailant who ended up in the hospital wounded. No theater patrons were injured by the gunman.

Those facts speak for themselves. In the 20 to thirty minutes it takes for police to get the call and go to the scene, people can lose their lives.

1) A solution would be to have a bulit [sic] proof double walled entry system. Once a visitor is buzzed in, he/she is in a locked area before the second door is opened into the school. In that time, an officer can check the person out. If he is a danger, you already have him/her locked in a built proof box. This system is used in some pawn shops to prevent robberies.

2) All doors should have the glass areas covered over with 1 inch thick plywood so people who want to do kids harm can not climb through the glass openings if they are shot out.

3) Put the news out that there are armed guards in the schools. No matter how sick a person is, he realizes that he could be shot dead instantly if he targets the school.

4) Have parent volunteers work in shifts to patrol with radios to report any person approaching the school during the day. If they are armed, as Lanza was, the school resource officer could be notified by the volunteers and be ready for the coming attack before the person gets near the school.