An Excellent Example of Twitter Use in Atlanta School Shooting

Last Thursday, January 31st 2013, there was another shooting outside a middle school in Atlanta. A 14 year-old student was grazed by a bullet, and thankfully the wounds suffered were not life-threatening. Within minutes of the shooting, the shooter was disarmed and taken into custody. You can learn more about the shooting here.

What truly impressed me about this crisis was the way Atlanta Public Schools leveraged Twitter to keep parents and the public informed. From their twitter handle, @apsupdate, Atlanta Public Schools:

• Consistently updated the public in real-time
• Tweeted details of how the school was reaching and keeping parents informed
• Answered incoming inquiries on Twitter
• Updated the public in both English and Spanish, accommodating both of their audiences
• Linked to more detailed information
• During the press conference, they tweeted out tweet-able statements made by the leading officer
• Were open to criticism and vowed to learn from their mistakes – which they proved over the next few days
• Continued tweeting and updating their audience well after the crisis was over

However, from what I gathered, there was one main (and very large) concern from parents of Price Middle School: They felt that they were not receiving prompt updates. This leads me to believe that, although the school was utilizing social media very well to communicate with the public, the parents of the students inside the school were unaware.

An important thing to remember for your crisis communications plan

There is no sense in having a crisis communications plan if no one is aware of what it entails. That said, you must make sure that all stakeholders are aware of your crisis communications plan before a crisis occurs, and that everyone is up-to-speed on how, when and where to receive these communications and updates in a crisis.

Tweets tweeted out by Atlanta Public School during last week’s crisis

Take a minute to read the below tweets. There are some very valuable tweets and lessons that should be incorporated into your own crisis communications plan:

An Atlanta Public Schools student has suffered a gunshot injury at Price Middle School.

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

The injured student has been transported to Grady Hospital. Suspect in custody.

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

All parents notified via phone, text, email. #price

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

Price, Carver and Slater are all on lockdown.

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

Parent messages went out to all listed in our database at 3:04pm. #price

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

All schools are following their ApPD/ APS approved safety procedures for this type of emergency. #price

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

Update: we are releasing Price walking students first at normal dismissal time. #aps

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

Carpool riders at Price will be released second, followed by buses. #aps

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

Press release has been posted on district website. #price #aps atlantapublicschools.us

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

Normal dismissal today for Price Middle School. Press conference at 4pm at district headquarters.

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

Walkers & carpoolers from Price MS have been transported to Emmanuel Baptist at 1582 Bickers Atl 30315. #aps #price

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

Thanks for your patience. Students are continuing to be dismissed from Price MS. Walkers/Carpoolers being taken to Emmanuel Baptist. #aps

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

@goldietaylor Thanks for understanding. Confirming all facts before press conference. #aps #price

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

Less than 10 minutes away from start of press conference. #price #aps

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

@avjudkins absolutely. All parents, in our database have the ability to receive text/ calls/emails.

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

Press Conference now starting. #price

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

Student is expected to be released from hospital tonight according to parents says Supt. #price

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

Chief Turner confirms that our armed School Resource Officer subdued the suspect & took him into custody. #price

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

They also kept people updated in Spanish:

Un estudiante de las Escuelas Públicas de Atlanta (APS) ha sufrido una herida por arma de fuego en la….

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) January 31, 2013

They were open to criticism and advice:

@lizgarnermusic We appreciate the feedback. Will share your tweet with our comm team. #price

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) February 1, 2013

@mizrik excellent point. Actually brainstorming now w/team member via phone about more ways to express/explain safety plans. #Price

— ATL Public Schools (@apsupdate) February 1, 2013

The tweets continued to go on in this informative fashion until well after the crisis was resolved and all students were safely in their homes.

There are a number of excellent lessons to take away from Atlanta Middle School’s excellent Twitter communications during this unfortunate school shooting. I hope that you were able to take value from this example and incorporate these points of communication within your own company’s crisis management plan.