Hamilton County Officials Talk Noblesville School Shooting Response

Hamilton County leaders, including the sheriff, spoke Tuesday afternoon about the county’s emergency response to the Noblesville West Middle School shooting.

Mike Snowden, executive director for Hamilton County public safety communications, said the panel was to help educate commissioners from across the state on how to prepare for an active shooter scenario.

"It’s very easy to have the mentality of it can’t happen to us, it won’t happen to us," Snowden says. "But if you just realize that it could –– start from a place this could happen to us, let’s get ready for it."

Presenters shared examples of the quick response –– emergency responders were alerted of the active shooter 37 seconds after the first 911 call. 

Snowden said he was proud of the operators who voluntarily came to work the day of the shooting to answer the flood of calls.

The 13-year-old shooter shot a classmate and teacher at Noblesville West Middle School in May. Earlier this month, a judge sent the boy to a Department of Corrections juvenile facility.

In response to the shooting, Noblesville voters passed a $50 million school safety referendum in the midterm election. The funds will support safety equipment, staff, and mental health treatment in Noblesville schools.