Teacher files federal lawsuit after getting PTSD from active shooter drill

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published 22 April 2015

An Oregon teacher who said she is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after a fake gun was pointed at her during a surprise active shooter drill has filed a federal lawsuit against the district's safety officer and others.

Linda McLean said that during an in-service day on April 26, 2013, a gunman burst into her classroom at Pine Eagle School District No. 61, a charter school in the town of Halfway. He pointed a gun at her face and pulled the trigger, saying, "You're dead," The Oregonian reports. It wasn't an actual shooter, but rather the school district's safety officer, Shawn Thatcher. McLean's lawsuit states that "panic ensued" after Thatcher and John Minarich, a school board member, stormed into classrooms, pointing their weapons at teachers and firing blanks. One teacher wet her pants, the complaint alleges, while another was injured while trying to keep Minarich out of his classroom.

The teachers were angry and confused once they realized it had been a drill, and in the days following, McLean was unable to teach due to fear. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and says that since speaking out, she has been shunned by those who organized the drill. Her lawsuit names Thatcher, two school administrators, seven members of the school board, and Alpine Alarm Communications and Construction LLC, accusing them of civil assault, false imprisonment, emotional distress, and depriving McLean of liberty without due process.