Security At School, Focus Of Active Shooter Exercises

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

The Missouri State Highway Patrol hosted a July 15 active shooter simulation training at Doniphan R-I, as a way to better prepare school officials and local law enforcement to be prepared in the event that a shooter is able to infiltrate school security. Participating in the training were school officials, who assisted by role-playing victims in several different "shooter" scenarios, while Doniphan Police Officers, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Ripley County Sheriff's Deputies worked together to create a plan to restore safety. Officers of all three departments were required to think on their feet and work together, using their acquired skills, knowledge and training without foreknowledge of what they would encounter in each simulation. After each exercise, the officers discussed what they had discovered were their strengths and what they would have done differently. R-I Superintendent Mike Owens and other school officials who participated said that the training was a significant learning experience for them. Owens said probably the most significant benefit was to know that local law enforcement was given the opportunity to learn the layout of the campus. Although the MSHP introduced the training to the R-I staff last year, for some officers and educators this was their first simulation experience. MSHP Master Sergeant Shayne Talburt said that he and his crew returned to the R-I campus at the request of Doniphan Police Chief Mark Rodgers.

Officers advance down a hall of the Doniphan R-I High School campus, quickly securing classrooms. In this particular scenario, a severely wounded man laying in a (simulated) pool of blood, is obstructed from the officer's view. The shooter was later located in the school office. (By Debra Tune)
Although a shooter can be heard in the distance, an officer carefully checks around a corner as he makes his way through the halls of the campus. (By Debra Tune)
In this scenario, officers of the three different law enforcement departments work together. (By Debra Tune)
After determining there is only one shooter, officers move in to disable him. (By Debra Tune)
Officers encounter one dead and another wounded as they approach the danger zone. (By Debra Tune)
In this scenario, officers encounter two runners, whom in the heat of the moment, they must be able to immediately identify as escapees. (By Debra Tune)
After successfully taking down the shooter, Doniphan Police Chief Mark Rodgers kicks his firearm out of reach and makes sure he is no longer a threat. (By Debra Tune)
As part of the training, officers are instructed not to be sidetracked by wounded crying out for help (at left), but to stay on their primary mission, which is to take down the shooter. (By Debra Tune)
The shooter takes down two of the innocent, leaving one dead and the other wounded (seen in the distance, role played by two Doniphan R-I staff). The rifles used in the similation looked and sounded like semi-automatic weaponry, and ejected cartridges, which added realism to the exercise. (By Debra Tune)