Friday brought several major parish agencies together for one of the most comprehensive, collaborative activities of the year.
The hope is simply that it never comes into play.
Gunshots rang through the air, as did screams of pain thereafter. Alarms blared. Instructions were blasted to responders via the radio. All of it was part of a simulated active shooter response training drill at Destrehan High School. The St. Charles Parish’s Sheriff’s Office, public school system and emergency responders participate in the joint training session. While the hope is the knowledge gained through this practice run — in this case, a simulation of a shooter or shooters opening fire within the school during a typical day of classes — it acknowledges that you can never be too prepared.
The exercise has taken place for more than a decade, with a different school hosting the exercise every other year. This was the second time a high school venue hosted the session, with Hahnville doing so in 2017.
“Nothing is ever going to put the kind of stress on you that an active shooting event would put on you, but you can at least develop some muscle memory – understanding the things you have to do and the steps you have to take,” said St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne. “We’ve tweaked these things over the years as we’ve learned lessons over time.”
Champagne said the exercise is one part of a comprehensive program that has progressed over the years since the infamous Columbine High School shooting incident in 1999.
“Back to the days of Columbine, I remember looking at my staff and we’d never trained for something like this. I realized at that point we had to put something into place,” he said, noting soon after the Sheriff’s Office and school district began working together to plan and implement the training.
The idea is to mimic a mass casualty event, such as an assault on a school or terror attack, and serve as a training exercise for school staff, law enforcement, fire departments, hospital workers and other assisting agencies.
Champagne noted over 90 percent of teachers, administrators and school employees have taken part in at least one of these training events over the years.
“(It presents the chance to) enhance the skills of our teachers to respond to an event like this … it’s a very broad scope event that’s important for our community as a whole,” said St. Charles Parish Schools Superintendent Dr. Ken Oertling, who noted the Destrehan High site was one of two on the day – the second was a reunification site that simulated returning students to their families safely.
Champagne said that tactics have evolved throughout the years and today, officers go on the offensive quickly once they respond to the call to action.
“We’ve trained and have trained over the years to be on the offensive, combat and go after the target aggressively,” Champagne said.
Mission accomplished to that end: the shooter, who in the exercise will try to evade capture, was apprehended in approximately seven minutes.
A number of student role players assisted with the exercise, acting as the wounded and frightened and giving responders feedback during the simulated event, such as where the shooter was last seen or what they saw as the shooting was unfolding. Teachers and other school administrators also participated in order to drill and learn how to approach such an event were it to occur.
The officers and other response personnel treat the exercise as they would — or as close as possible — to a real scenario.
The exercise took place one day after one student was killed and seven people injured by a teen shooter at an Iowa school.
“Watching the news yesterday, Iowa, country farmland Iowa … this can happen anywhere, anytime,” said Champagne. “Shopping centers, community businesses … (the training) is applicable to not just a school situation, but any of these.”
While being ready for the unimaginable is what the exercise is ultimately directed upon, as much if not more focus is placed on prevention. Champagne and Oertling noted many measures taken by both agencies to deter the chances of such an event. Safety vestibules at each school and close to 3,000 cameras throughout the school district that the Sheriff’s Office has direct access to are among many steps taken to heighten safety.
“And parents need to know,” Champagne said, “that if they see a child exhibiting bizarre behavior, report it. We take it seriously and we investigate. (In past instances) where that’s happened, thankfully, the erratic behavior was just erratic behavior.”
Oertling noted there are mental health professionals at each school to that end as well.
“As important as the response is the support we provide kids to make sure their emotional well-being is taken care of,” Oertling said.
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