Published: June 12, 2007 11:31 pm            

Police demonstrate forms during ‘Active Shooter’

SWAT team shows strategy, formations for responding to active shooter in a building

TERRE HAUTE — Five officers from the Terre Haute Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics team moved across the front of a room Tuesday as if someone might try to kill them.

They protected each other while gracefully moving along in a “diamond formation,” visually scanning nearly every inch of the room.

They grasped their firearms and searched for a perpetrator that didn’t exist.

The five-man team was demonstrating various tactical formations for an audience at Ivy Tech Community College during the second day of a seminar titled “Active Shooter in Public Schools and Public Places.”

The officers had 360-degree coverage in the auditorium, showing participants from businesses, Vigo schools and emergency responders how the team might respond to a situation in which an active shooter is in a building.

Capt. Perry W. Hollowell of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy addressed some of the issues surrounding the Columbine High School shooting April 20, 1999, in Jefferson County, Colo., where two high school students entered the school and opened fire.

Hollowell said after the Columbine High shootings, in which 13 people and the two gunmen were killed, and dozens more were wounded, law enforcement changed many tactical-response methods

“… What’s important now is that you understand what we’re going to do if we come to your facility, and God forbid, there’s an active shooter there,” Hollowell said.

There is one glitch with SWAT teams’ response time, Hollowell said. They typically have a relatively slow response, with 45 minutes considered quick for a team to arrive. The average shooting lasts five to seven minutes, he said.

He explained what SWAT teams do in situations where a building’s interior perimeter must be cleared of any threats.

Special response teams move methodically through buildings, entering each room strategically.

Hollowell said the shooter must be stopped before injured victims can be helped.

He suggested that off-duty police officers carry a firearm at all times with enough ammunition to reload the weapon. Officers wearing civilian clothes should wear their badge around their neck, to reduce the chance of other officers identifying them as a perpetrator and possibly shooting them.

In school situations, students need to understand their role, Hollowell said. During an active-shooter situation, students should go to the walls of the building to stay out of the way, Hollowell said.

“You have to have a realistic, fundable, trained plan to prevent active-shooter cases. … I hope what I’ve given you is something to think about,” Hollowell said.

Ernie Webster, a public safety officer for Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, said his attendance was vital for campus safety.

He said he learned more about how to respond to threatening situations and what causes people to lash out by killing others.

The Vigo County Sheriff’s Department, the Vigo County Emergency Management Agency and Terre Haute Police Department sponsored the event to raise community awareness and build relations with citizens, businesses and school officials.

Brendan Kearns, risk manager for the Vigo County School Corp., said he gained a better understanding of what tactics might be like in public places and in schools.

“We want to make sure the information communicated today is cohesive and on par with our current plan and program,” he said.

Laura Followell can be reached at (812) 231-4253 or laura.followell@tribstar.com.

        

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