"I Think About It Everyday": Nantucket's School Officer Reflects On Latest Tragedy

How often does Cassie Thompson think about the unthinkable?

“Every day,” Thompson said on Thursday, two days after the horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers in an elementary school.

For Thompson, a member of the Nantucket Police Department who serves as its school resource officer, thinking about and planning for the worst-case scenario is simply part of her job.

Thompson is in Nantucket’s public schools all day, every day. Her office overlooks the lobby of the Cyrus Peirce Middle School. If a shooting were ever to unfold at one of the island’s schools, Thompson, in all likelihood, would be the first one on the scene trying to stop it.

It’s a heavy burden, and one she contemplates on a daily basis.

“I do think about it everyday – different scenarios – what if I was standing in this hallway and something happened at the elementary school?” she said “I literally run through at least one scenario every day.”

Thompson has served as the school resource officer since January 2016. In that role, she is responsible for annual “active shooter” training sessions with the students and teachers at Nantucket’s public and private schools.

The training is based on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s “Run Hide Fight” principles for students and teachers who find themselves in an active shooter situation.

“I think it’s sad we have to have students learn this,” Thompson said. “They should be going to school and having fun. I tell them, ‘I don’t want you to think about it every day and live it. Put it in the back of your head and every once in a while, think about what you would do.”

In the aftermath of Uvalde and other school shootings, the focus on that part of Thompson’s job is obviously heightened. On Wednesday, Thompson sent out the school’s lockdown protocol to all staff members as a refresher. While students weren’t eager to talk about the shooting in Texas, Thompson said, she still asked them if they wanted to share their feelings.

And while she still goes through those “what if” scenarios in her head every day, Thompson won’t let that consume the other aspects of her job: building relationships with students, helping them when and where she can, and fostering a safe environment for learning.

“I can’t dwell on it all day long - I wouldn’t be able to function,” Thompson said. “There are so many aspects of this job that bring me so much joy. That scenario in my head can’t overpower that other stuff.”

Back in 2019, Thompson was on duty when a security system malfunction at the high school triggered a panic alarm that sent the building into lockdown. For nearly an hour, students, staff, and the island’s first responders were unsure whether it was a real active shooter situation, simply a drill, or something else.

Thompson described as the “best, worst thing that could have happened for us.” While it was terrifying and stressful for all involved, it did allow the school and police to assess how students, faculty and first responders would react in a real situation.

“It couldn’t have gone any better,” Thompson said of those reactions she witnessed. “They got an A+. We had kids jumping out of windows, kids hiding. It couldn’t have gone any better. We commented after that the school was so quiet, it was like a Saturday morning. That means everything people have been taught, it played out perfectly.”

The Nantucket Police Department had previously posted two school resource officers in the schools, but recently pulled Officer Keith Mansfield back to patrol due to the staffing challenges the department is facing.

That leaves Thompson to float among the three public school facilities and determine where she is most needed depending upon the circumstances and situations in each building.

“Yesterday, after Texas, I tried to spend a lot of time with the younger schools,” Thompson said. “The vibe down there was a little on edge – those were the ages of the children who were attacked in Texas – so I tried to spend as much time down there as possible. Other times, like after the two young boys got hit by a car (last week), I was here (at CPS). It’s the vibe of the day, and depends on what’s coming each day.”

While Thompson is the public face of security at the schools, she emphasized that it takes the entire community to ensure the safety of students on the campuses. It takes teachers and staff members forging relationships and trust with the students. It takes students being willing to share a concern or something they witnessed with one of those adults. And it takes parents and loved ones communicating and looking out for Nantucket’s children.

“It’s a collective for us to keep our schools safe,” Thompson said. “It’s not just the job of the school resource officer. It’s, collectively, the student body, teachers, parents, everyone needing to keep the school safe.”