A video of an Oklahoma woman doing active shooter exercises with her 5-year-old son went viral on TikTok

By Samantha Allen

Published: August 17, 2022 | 9:10 AM GMT

A mother from Oklahoma went popular on TikTok after sharing a video of her and her 5-year-old son doing active shooter exercises before school.

Cassie Walton, a 22-year-old mother of two from McAlester, Oklahoma, plays out a school shooting practise with her son Weston in a TikTok video with over one million views. She asks him in the video what he would do if the principal announced a school shooting over the intercom.

The video shows her son crouched in a corner of his bedroom, showing how he would hide in his classroom and use his bulletproof Spider-Man bag as a shield to defend himself from gunshots; Walton responds, “good job.”

In addition, she instructs her son to “stay absolutely silent” if a shooter is present in the classroom and police officers are inquiring whether anybody is there. She instructs her son, should he be able to escape, to get as far away from the school as possible.

Walton told CBS News on Tuesday that she felt it was essential to teach her son this lesson “just in case.” She said that she feared the exercises could discourage him from attending school, but he ended up taking them seriously.

“Whenever I was filming the video, I was pushing back all of the tears, trying to get all of that out, and he’s very smart, and he took in all of the information very well, and he wasn’t scared of the drill, he knew it was a serious situation,” Walton said. “But, you know, as a 5-year-old, he was concerned about the bad guys, and him being five, he was just like, ‘I’ll just karate chop him if I need to.’ And I was like, ‘No, not quite, its a little more serious than that.’ Then, after that, he was able to take it a little more serious.”

Walton expressed amazement at the amount of attention her video garnered to CBS News. She said that seeing another mother’s online post about the $140 bulletproof backpack insert motivated her to buy one herself.

When it comes to defending your children, no amount of money is excessive, according to Walton. I wish it were unnecessary and that we could find a better solution.

About Samantha Allen

Samantha Allen is a seasoned journalist and senior correspondent at TDPel Media, specializing in the intersection of maternal health, clinical wellness, and public policy. With a background in investigative reporting and a passion for data-driven storytelling, Samantha has become a trusted voice for expectant mothers and healthcare advocates worldwide. Her work focuses on translating complex medical research into actionable insights, covering everything from prenatal fitness and neonatal care to the socioeconomic impacts of healthcare legislation. At TDPel Media, Samantha leads the agency's health analytics desk, ensuring that every report is grounded in accuracy, empathy, and scientific integrity. When she isn't in the newsroom, she is an advocate for community-led wellness initiatives and an avid explorer of California’s coastal trails.