Large-scale active shooter drill gives law enforcement, first responders and school district staff valuable experience

Nearly 100 school district staff members arrived by school bus to role-play injured victims, students, and the shooters as well.

Members of local law enforcement, first responders and Muhlenberg County Public Schools performed an active shooter drill on May 19, using the vacant school building on Pritchett Drive in Greenville for a realistic exercise involving nearly 150 people.

The empty building became the site of an active shooter situation, with school employees bussed to the location to play roles ranging from injured victims, to the shooters themselves. While people playing roles inside the building were given explicit directions on what to do, law enforcement were left to navigate the unfolding event in real time.

Muhlenberg County Sheriff’s Department, Central City and Greenville Police, constables and TVA Police all took part in the exercise, as well as Muhlenberg County Emergency Management, Muhlenberg County 911 dispatch and Owensboro Health Muhlenberg EMS ambulance service.

During the event, a call was placed to 911, and dispatch sent responders to the scene. Fire departments blocked Pritchett Drive to traffic, and law enforcement staged their entrance from the parking lot. As teams of officers searched the school building, shots rang out through the empty hallways. Two shooters were inside the building, firing cap guns as part of the role-playing exercise.

Responders practiced searching the building, capturing the shooter, and assisting survivors. Some playing the part of deceased victims lay in the pathway of officers, lending to the realistic atmosphere. There was no live ammunition at the site, and all who participated were checked for weapons before the training began, a district official said.

Greenville Police officers Devin Weatherford, at left, and JD Goins enter the school building and begin searching for the shooter during a May 19 active shooter drill.

The practice session took many months to prepare, with school and law enforcement agencies working closely to create a life-like training experience. Greenville Police Sgt. Wes Miller, who also serves as a school resource officer, lead the planning team.

Miller said local law enforcement began developing an active shooter plan in 2013, and specialized training is done continuously to be prepared for such an event. The last large-scale exercise was done in 2019, at Bremen Elementary School, he said.

Miller and his team created the roles for school employees to play, and helped to orchestrate the scenario. Officers entering the building were purposely left out of the loop, relying on training to help them navigate the situation.

“When we have role-players portraying students and staff, it makes the training realistic for law enforcement and other first responders,” Miller said.

Also on the scene were eight members of the Owensboro Health Muhlenberg EMS ambulance service. Director Troy Walker used the opportunity to include the hospital in the training, as they practiced aspects of their mass casualty protocol.

Tactical paramedics entered the building along with law enforcement, clearing rooms and providing medical support. They worked to get victims out of danger, and performed triage, sorting patients by the severity of their injuries.

School district employee Kortney West portrays a shooting victim during the drill, lending to the realistic atmosphere.

“It’s not like a wreck - you have to get people out of the situation. You’ve got people trying to kill you and it’s important to keep first responders safe,” Walker said.

While no one was sent to the hospital, they did have ten “paper patients”, used to test new software EMS and Owensboro Health are using to track people during a mass casualty event. This new tracking system allows EMS to tag patients during a disaster, uploading information that travels along with them. Patients are often sent in different directions when there are several people involved, and now using this platform, it will be easier to reunite patients with their loved ones during a chaotic event.

Once the scene was cleared at the school building, school staff acting as survivors were taken by school bus to an off-site reunification center. This part of the drill focused on how school officials would work to reunite students with their parents after a disaster of any kind.

“The chance to practice our reunification process with a large number of role-playing participants was very beneficial and we will continue to carry out trainings such as this to keep our schools as safe as we possibly can,” said assistant superintendent Matt Perkins.

The district used people playing roles as students and parents or guardians at the reunification site, and school personnel were able to practice the reunification process they have trained for.

Julie Pendley, who serves as the reunification coordinator for the school district, said they use a method for reuniting parents with their children that aims to limit the anxiety and frustration that can be overwhelming during a difficult situation.

Muhlenberg County Sheriff’s Deputy Brock Mefford handcuffs the captured shooter, portrayed by Brian Lile.

“You’re going to have a lot of people with a lot of emotion,” Pendley said. “So we build in extra support. We have district counselors, we have school psychologists who are trained in crisis response techniques to help de-escalate the situation.”

The district has an assigned incident commander, a mental health leader, and parent greeters who double check photo id’s against records, to make sure students are reunited with the correct family members. They also have people ready to help those with injuries, or who are in need of counseling.

The employees of the board office in Powderly are all trained to act in the unlikely event that students have to be moved from their school to another location, whether in the case of fire, natural disaster or active shooter incident.

Once the training was completed, agencies held debriefing sessions to go over the response. At the end of the day, Miller said he feels confident his team is ready to spring into action if ever called to do so.