Training for the unthinkable at Mt. Hope

Police “active shooter” training had been planned for months, but takes on new urgency in wake of Florida tragedy

By Ted Hayes
Posted 2/21/18

The shooter walked in to Mt. Hope High School just after 9 a.m. Tuesday. Armed to the teeth, he wasted no time pulling a weapon and firing at students as they walked back and forth on their way to …

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Training for the unthinkable at Mt. Hope

Police “active shooter” training had been planned for months, but takes on new urgency in wake of Florida tragedy

Posted

The shooter walked in to Mt. Hope High School just after 9 a.m. Tuesday. Armed to the teeth, he wasted no time pulling a weapon and firing at students as they walked back and forth on their way to class. One fell, then another and another. He took a left off from the main foyer, shooting into classrooms as he went down the main hallway and toward the office, where he fired some more.

Teachers screamed. Students ran for cover and hid. The school was instantly in chaos.

It wasn’t real, but the “active shooter” training staged Tuesday by the Bristol Police Department and Bristol Warren Regional School District was as close as those on hand hope they’ll ever come to an actual shooting incident here.

Bristol police carry out at least two such exercises every year and while this one was planned for months before last week’s deadly school shooting in Florida, the need for training — for 40 police offices from Bristol, Warren and Portsmouth and in this case, more than 60 custodial and secretarial staff from across the district — was never more apparent.

“This is reality, this is he world we live in,” Bristol Police Chief Josh Canario said before it started. “We need to make sure that we do the things we do to keep each and every one of us safe.”

While past police training exercises have focused on different aspects of school shootings and other emergencies, Tuesday’s focused in part on preparing school workers for dealing with threats as they arise and communicating with police effectively and safely.

As staff members played the role of teachers, students and other school staff, one of the police department’s main goals was teaching them how to deal with shooters and other assailants as quickly as efficiently and safely as possible. It’s an incredibly difficult thing to do under the stress and terror of a shooting incident, he said, but Bristol Police firearms instructor Steven St. Pierre said thinking clearly, being able to offer specific information to first responders, and keeping cool is one of the most important things to do in a situation like this:

“Just viewing the types of things you’re going to see, it’s going to be intense,” he said. “Even though it’s all pretend, the mind has a funny way of making it real, especially with what just happened in Florida.”

“In the real environment, it’s going to be nothing like what you see today. It’s going to be 10 times worse than what you experience today. God forbid something happens, but if it does we want you to have a good foundation, something to build on.”

As a general rule, police are normally reluctant to invite members of the press into live fire exercises, as reporters may unwittingly report information that could be a help to anyone planning a future attack.

Chief Canario decided to keep access to the actual mock shootings limited, not just to protect police tactics and strategies, but to help add more of a sense of realness for those non-law enforcement officers participating. Though he told volunteers that witnessing a shooting is deeply traumatic and can make it difficult to think clearly, he said that giving those on hand as accurate a taste of what it’s like, even simulated, is hugely important:

“Hopefully it’s going to sink in and I’m hoping, to be honest with you, that we never even have to think about this happening. But if it does, we can at least say that we tried, we prepared the best we could. And if we can save just one person, I’ll be a very happy person.”

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.