McAlester Mom Goes Viral On TikTok Doing Active Shooter Drills With Son

A McAlester woman’s TikTok has gone viral after she showed her son practicing what to do if an active shooter came into his school.

Cassie Walton and her son Weston didn’t prepare for back to school with new clothes and pencils, they prepared by practicing active shooter drills and buying a bulletproof backpack. In the TikTok video, she goes through various scenarios such as how to cover himself with his bulletproof backpack, what to do if law enforcement tries to get him to speak up while the shooter is in the room, and where to run if he is able to escape the school building.

"If the teacher calls over the intercom and says this is not a drill, go in the corner be quiet, and still what do you do? You go to the corner and sit,” Walton said in the viral video. “Now show me how you use your bulletproof backpack. Yes cover yourself, if a teacher says Weston you don’t need your backpack, just get in the corner, what do you do?”

“I say no I need it, it's bulletproof,” Weston Walton said.

She said after what happened in Uvalde back in May, Weston asked if he could be hurt at school too.

"If the police are outside the door and the shooter is in your room and they call out is anybody in there what do you do,” Walton said. “You don’t say a word, if the shooter is in there, stay silent.”

Cassie's TikTok has more than 7 million views, many of which are parents asking where they can find the bulletproof backpack insert for their child.

“It’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it, it’s sad to think we even need one but it seems necessary,” Walton said.

She said she never expected the video to reach so many people, but she is grateful other parents are taking school safety seriously.

At the end of the video, Cassie goes through what to do if Weston needs to escape:

“If you get out of the building where do you go where do you run?”

“Outside.”

“Where outside?”

“Home.”

“Get as far away as you can get away from the school, mom will find you.”

She said having a hard conversation with your child about what they should do if a shooter comes into their school may be scary, but it’s better to be prepared.