BRADENTON - Four Manatee High School students were arrested on campus Thursday morning during a drill held to see how teachers and students would react to a dangerous situation, according to Principal Jeff Asher.

At least 10 law enforcement vehicles surrounded the school until noon.

The students were arrested on charges of drug possession, and two of them also face weapon charges, according to School Resource Officer Sgt. Patrick Proudler.

The students were taken to the Juvenile Detention Center and their parents were contacted, according to Proudler.

The unannounced drill, which was planned in advance by administrators, took place with the assistance of Bradenton Police Department's officers and canine unit, as well as a canine unit of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office and the Palmetto Police Department. A gang unit and a narcotics unit was also on hand for the drill, Proudler said.

The principal said recent violent events at schools around the country prompted the drill.

"With the heightened awareness and sensitivity to school violence in the last month we decided to do a mock drill," Asher said. "It was very realistic and served the purpose of evaluating teachers and students and how they would handle a crisis situation."

Asher said this was the first time the school, which has 2,240 students, has undergone a drill of this sort since he came on board four years ago, he said.

But, Jessica Schopfer, a senior at the school, said a similar incident took place earlier this school year.

"The first time dogs came around and found a bunch of stuff in cars," Schopfer said. "It's weird, it's like all of sudden they're starting to care about this kind of stuff."

Schopfer has attended Manatee for her entire high school career and doesn't think the amount of drugs, weapons or violence among her classmates has changed over the years, she said.

Asher described the drill as educational.

"With the microcosm of society these days, it's bound to go in schools," he said. "Students are looking for someone to set boundaries. They need advice to step forward and set boundaries."

The drill began around 8 a.m. with a "code yellow," at which time the school was locked down, prohibiting students from leaving their location.

Next, a "code green" went into effect as 10 randomly selected rooms on campus were evacuated as police officers walked the rooms with K-9s.

Schopfer, who was in an interior design class when the code was initiated, doesn't remember the word drill being used to describe the event.

"They made an announcement that they were searching cars and that the dogs were there," Schopfer said.

The K-9s alerted officers to the smell of marijuana in 10 backpacks, but nothing illegal was found inside them or any classrooms.

"It showed that there has been marijuana usage around them (backpacks)," Asher said.

During a canvas of nearly 300 cars in the parking lot, the canines alerted officers to at least 15 vehicles. Three of the vehicles had drugs, drug paraphernalia and/or knives of the hunting or combat-style in them, and were impounded. Another student was found to have drugs in his possession, according to Proudler.

"We're very pleased with the outcome of today's drill, it was proactive in case anything were to happen," Asher said. "To think we went through over 250 students, 10 different classrooms, 300 cars the main thing that the drill practice was as real as possible."

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