OXFORD – A mock school shooting will be staged Sept. 14 at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris.

SAD 17 directors were told Monday night that after nearly a year of planning by school and community officials, the event will take place beginning at approximately 7:45 a.m. and end shortly after 11 a.m.

Parents are being notified today by a letter being sent home with their child.

“It scares me that we have to do this, but we have to,” Superintendent Mark Eastman said.

The mock shooting will be planned inside the school and involve Oxford County Emergency Management Director Scott Parker, Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, Norway, Paris and Oxford police, Norway and Paris fire departments, PACE ambulance, Stephens Memorial Hospital personnel, Norway and Paris town manager and SAD 17 central office staff.

Assistant Principal Jan Gauger, who supervises the crisis team at the high school, said officials had debated long and hard about informing students and parents prior to the event, but in the end decided it was best to tell the community about the event to keep the “fear factor” down.

Gauger said the participants, who will include head custodian Bud Raymond as the “shooter” and five staff members as victims, have practiced the lockdown several times in the past year and also conducted a “table top” exercise to ensure the event was ready to go.

Raymond will be used as the shooter because of his extensive knowledge of the building, officials said.

In the letter to parents, Principal Ted Moccia and Oxford Hills Technical School Director David Mason have urged parents to make sure their child attends school on Sept. 14 to ensure that all students are properly trained in emergency procedures. Students will have time for discussion about the event before they are released early on that day.

The exercise will begin about 7:45 a.m. Access to the building and surrounding school grounds will be restricted. All visitors and phone calls to the building will be sent to the central office in Oxford.

It is also possible that there may be a slight disruption in the traffic outside the school as police cars, officers in SWAT gear, firetrucks and ambulances arrive at the school, Gauger said.

Any questions prior to the event should be directed to the high school administrators at 743-8914.