The FBI responded to the school shooting in Dixon last week, but in a way you might not expect.
“You can never have enough Kleenex,” said Colleen Ross.
Ross says that's one lesson she learned in the days after the shootout at Dixon High School. She's a victim specialist for the FBI. She coordinated the efforts of 15 crisis counselors while also advising school leaders.
“The school, Dixon High School has two counselors on staff, but to put it on them, to provide the counseling for everyone, they've already been through this incident themselves as well,” Ross said.
“She was basically directing traffic and making sure that kids were getting help in a timely fashion,” said school principal Mike Grady.
Ross says when she arrived in Dixon, she was pleased to find one key component already in place -- a comfort dog for victims.
K9 handler Patrick Quinn and Shiloh, his comfort dog, live in Dixon. Quinn recalled how students responded when Shiloh arrived.
“They had initially, tears from the incident, but when they saw Shiloh, they had tears of happiness,” Quinn said.
Ross says every crisis requires a different approach.
“Obviously, after 16 years, there's been a lot of different tragic events that I've dealt with, but you can't use it as a cookie cutter approach. Because you're dealing with a different town, a different culture,” Ross said.
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