Children walked out of the Haunted House at Duval Elementary with a pretty common reaction...Ameria Brown put it this way: "It was really, really, really scary!!"
Gainesville Police officers set up the school as a Halloween paradise for kids, to give them a safe alternative to trick or treating. Corporal Audrey Mazzuca says police officers "have coordinated this, and they're on the campus, they're running the haunted house and different events." And she says the whole setup is a place where kids "can have fun, get a few scares in there, and also interact with law enforcement."
The children are offered a choice between two doors when they arrive: one is for "Brave Souls" and it leads to the Haunted House. The other is labelled "Scaredy Cats"- for those who just want to sample some food and prizes.
Corporal Mazzuca says GPD hasn't seen any cases where kids were in danger on Halloween when they were trick-or-treating, but it doesn't hurt to give them an alternative.
"I'm not concerned about anything," she says. "I just think it's safe with police officers giving the candy, it's just a safe thing for them to do for Halloween."
In any case, the kids certainly weren't complaining.