A decision four years ago to install Nightlock lockdown locks on classroom doors at Oxford High School likely saved lives during the shooting spree last week.
A decision four years ago to install special lockdown locks on classroom doors at Oxford High School likely saved lives during the shooting spree last week.
The locks, specifically made for classrooms by a company in Mt. Morris, Mich., that has sold door locks to 300 school districts in Michigan and about 10,000 districts across the country.
“It’s not a lock until it needs to be, it’s a piece of hardware that mounts to the door and another piece that mounts to the floor. The locking device is a red handle that lives in a wallbox on the wall beside the door,’’ said Cris Ahearn, director of sales for Nightlock.
In the event of a lockdown or a drill, the box is opened, the red handle removed. One end is slid into a slot into the door; the other end fits into a notch in a metal plate mounted on the floor.
“If a classroom door has glass … and the perpetrator tries to break the glass and reach in and turn the handle to gain entry into the room, they can’t do that because the door is locked at the floor,’’ Ahearn said.
Oxford started installing the locks in 2017, according to Nightlock records. One version installed works on doors that swing outward or inward. Another version works on outward swinging doors which most classroom doors are. Oxford had a mix of both locks at the high school and districtwide.
The locks average about $50 per door.
The alleged shooter never entered a classroom during the shooting spree that killed four students and wounded six more students and a teacher on Tuesday, Nov. 30.
Those killed and wounded were fired upon in the hallways.
“The first thing I thought of was at least they have our locks. Then we’re watching it unfold at our computers and at first they were saying no loss of life and we were relieved. Then we found out that was not the case,’’ Ahearn said. “For the whole emotional week we’ve gone through I keep thinking about how do you lock down the hallways? We can provide safe rooms in every office and every classroom, but if you’re in the hallway, then you’re exposed and it’s tragic.’’
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard reviewed the crime scene last week and credited Oxford Community Schools with taking safety precautions.
“There is an extensive camera system thanks to the proactive work of Oxford schools. … Our liaison taught them ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate),’’ Bouchard said. “Desks were upturned, doors were barricaded, doors were actually hit by gunfire and so were barricades. But the doors were safe, so that behavior, that training, those protocols saved lives.’’
On Friday and Monday, the phone were ringing at Nightlock’s offices.
“It’s not the reason you want the phone to ring, our hearts are broken and devastated. I have friends who have kids that go to that school. It’s tragic,’’ Ahearn said.
“A lot of districts are trying to harden their facilities,’’ Ahearn said.
Nightlock started making residential locks to prevent home invasions after the owners’ parents home was broken into while their mom was there. They came up with a residential lock as a hobby and sold it on the internet. They ran their father’s steel company full-time.
Then came the 26 deaths in 2021— including 20 children — at Sandy Hook Elementary, in Newtown, Conn.
“After Sandy Hook, teachers started calling, they wanted these devices for their classrooms but that (residential) device doesn’t meet code as far classroom for egress,’’ Ahearn said. “So the lockdown device was designed based on a collaboration with school administrators and code officials to come up with something that is safe and effective. We’ve been doing that since 2012, since Sandy Hook.”
She said in the past week they’ve received an outpouring of emails and social media posts from parents and children thanking them that the school had the locks.
“We provide a service, but you hope that no one has to use them,’’ Ahearn said.
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