Elementary school installs bulletproof shelters in classrooms

An elementary school in Oklahoma is taking extreme measures to protect students in case of a school shooting like the one in Parkland, Florida.

Healdton Public Schools, in Healdton, Oklahoma, has installed seven bulletproof shelters inside classrooms in the town's elementary schools and two larger ones in their middle school, ABC's Oklahoma City affiliate KOCO reported.

Officials are working to bring the shelters to the town's high school next.

"When tornadoes strike, and Lord help us, when you have an intruder on campus, to know that you have somewhere to go quickly for the safety of your students, it's very relaxing," superintendent Terry Shaw told KOCO.

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Shaw said he went so far as to test the bulletproof shelters, built by a company called Shelter-in-Place, himself -- getting inside while the room was shot at. The company said they were the first shelters to be installed in the U.S.

The shelters in the elementary school can each hold 35 students and two teachers.

There are only about 3,000 residents in Healdton, according to KOCO -- the same number of students who attended Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Seventeen students and teachers were shot and killed allegedly by a former student at the school on Valentine's Day.

Cox Media Group