GREENBRIER, Ark. (KTHV) - Following the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School last month, officers from Central Arkansas spent Friday trying to make themselves as prepared as possible for an emergency scenario.
They took part in a training exercise with Arkansas State Police at Greenbrier High School in Faulkner County on Friday. The training included about 50 people and created a scenario to help officers understand the procedures needed in a crisis, but students and parents were also involved.
"It was pretty interesting, I've never done anything like this before," says tenth grader Michael Spainhour. "I was a student hiding behind a table from the gunman, I was back behind a couple of tables in the cafeteria and I was hiding from him."
Of course, that was all part of the set up. The staged shooting started with students and victims being put in different classrooms, while trainees listened to a radio for instructions. The first responders had to tend to the victims, carrying them down the hall and getting students out the building safely. They also learned how to relay information and identify a suspect.
"It is intense and that's how we want it to be," says coordinator Captain Keith Eremea.
One of the areas officers said they did well was in the mobile command center; by using it, they successfully gained access to cameras inside the school.
Friday's training at Greenbrier was a unique was to train officers, but it will not be the standard procedure run by state police. The State's Commission on Law Enforcement Standards is establishing a committee, which will create a uniform training plan for active shooter situations.