Since 1996, there have been 58 instances of shootings in schools across America.
In the hopes of preventing or lessening a tragedy like Sandy Hook Elementary or Columbine, Henryetta police spent Saturday training to cope with such an event.
It was the second time in a year officers used the holiday break to work in an actual school setting.
hallway training

"This is valuable for the men," said police chief Steve Norman. "They learn how to work as a team and perfect the discipline they will need in case we do have a real situation."
He pointed out the training may be in the school buildings but, "it will work in a hospital, it will work in Wal-Mart or a car dealer."
The chief told the officers their goal is to "locate, contain and stop the shooter."
He pointed out that most shooters they would face, "do not have a plan to escape. They will continue shooting unless they are engaged by law enforcement."

Norman said the officers responding to such an emergency have only one option, to go toward the shooting. "Retreat is not an option. We have to have the mindset to go forward, even if it means going by someone who is wounded. We have to stop the shooter."
He told the officers from Henryetta and Dewar that they will be the people who have to be the first on the scene.

 

going over tactics
"We don't have the time to wait for SWAT to arrive. We have to stop the shooting quickly. Ten minutes is a lifetime."
Tactics during the day included setting up officers into two- and four-man teams that would go through the hallways and search for a gunman.
Using training weapons that fired non-lethal pellets, officers dealt with several potential life-threatening situations.
entering a room They including a gunman holding several people hostage both in a classroom and facing off against officers.
Adding more confusion to the training was music and radio noise blaring from loudspeakers in the hallways.
As officers entered classrooms, they were assigned to cover specific areas and quickly find the person with the gun.

In several cases, the volunteer "shooter" surrendered to the officers while, in others, the team had to face a life and death situation.
The day-long session went more in depth than they encountered a year ago.
Norman stressed the need for officers to be communicating with each other in the team and having specific areas to cover.

"This would be a high-stress situation," the police chief said. "When the call first comes in, officers will see their blood pressure going from idle to race in a matter of seconds. We want to make sure the officers can get their emotions raised and controlled in a training situation."