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School shooting drill tries agencies' skill
By MOLLY MOORHEAD DADE CITY -- The chilling report came over the radio in fragments: shots fired at Pasco High School, several people injured, suspect spotted in the football stadium. In a first for east Pasco County, law enforcement and rescue officials responded to a mock school shooting Thursday -- a training exercise to prepare for an actual shooting. They searched classrooms, tended to victims, secured the campus and arrested the shooters. In one scenario, a SWAT team member was shot. One of the gunmen was killed. At least one student died. The day was a haunting reminder of tragedies in places like Littleton, Colo., and Paducah, Ky., but it prepared officials in case such a scene were to unfold in Pasco County. "It's the closest to the real thing that we can get," said Dade City police Chief Phil Thompson. The drill brought together officials from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, Dade City Police Department, Dade City Fire Rescue and Pasco County Fire Rescue. The Sheriff's Office has conducted three similar drills during the past three years. But Thursday's exercise was the first in east Pasco and the first to involve multiple agencies. That aspect of the drill was important because a real emergency would require a cooperative effort. "It's a nice challenge because it's all the agencies working together," said Brian Moyer, sheriff's lieutenant for school safety who organized the drill. About 40 students and 20 school staff members and volunteers participated, too. Humiar Ahmad, 15, a sophomore at Mitchell High, played a student in a locked-down classroom. He said officers came into his room, where a substitute teacher had been giving an English lesson, and searched everyone. Ahmad, who participated in a drill last year, said the experience made him feel secure at school. "If anything did happen, I know I'd probably be safe after seeing all this," Ahmad said. Pasco High principal Pat Reedy got right in on the action, lying in the parking lot with a student pretending to be injured during the mock emergency while talking to officers on a radio. He said working with the agencies was a learning experience. "The biggest help for us was seeing how the police and rescue squads respond to the situation," Reedy said. The shootings threw a variety of challenges to the responding officers. With the gunmen still loose, two people playing reporters pushed their way into the scene. A frantic parent ran among the victims looking for his son. Rescue officials had to wait to treat victims because of the danger of being shot. But Thompson said scenarios such as those teach the officers to be ready for anything and to work together. "We pray to God this never happens, but if it does, we'll all be on the same sheet of music," he said. -- Molly Moorhead can be reached at (352) 521-5757, ext. 29 or toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6108, then 29. Her e-mail address is moorhead@sptimes.com .
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From today's Pasco Times |
