The alert that an active shooter is on the loose is a call no one wants to receive.
The Columbus Division of Police held an active shooter training at Polaris Fashion Place Thursday morning in association with the Columbus Division of Fire to help prepare first responders.
The detailed training scenario was designed by the Columbus Police Defensive Tactics Unit and had a simulated shooter dressed in all black walk into the shopping mall.
“We try to simulate, as much as possible, a dispatcher dispatching the officers here with whatever information we receive from a 911 call,” said Sgt. Joe Albert, public information officer for the Columbus Division of Police.
Moments later, police were dispatched, and the first cruiser arrived on scene in a matter of minutes.
“Those are the initial responding officers,” Albert said. “Their job is to end the threat. If we have somebody shooting in the mall, it really, pardon my language, stinks, sucks, whatever you want to say for these officers to have to go by people who have been shot, but that’s what they’re trained to do. They have to go by those people who are injured because we don’t want any more injuries. So we have to end the threat.”
Albert said in the event of a real active shooter situation, multiple police and fire agencies from nearby areas will be rushing to the scene. If you’re inside during a situation like this, he said, information is paramount.
““If you can, call us and give us as much information as possible. You heard on the radio a description of that suspect,” Albert said. “And then get as far away from the scene as you can. Lock yourself in a room, something that keeps you safe until officers come to you and say, ‘All right, here’s your instructions to exit the building safely.’ But as a civilian who is in a mall anywhere that an active shooter is taking place, run, fight or hide…what we don’t want you to do is freeze. That’s the last thing we want you to do. We don’t want you to become a victim. So run, hide or fight.”
News crews weren’t allowed inside the mall, but were told in the scenario the officers encountered multiple injuries and casualties.
Jeffrey Geitter, the Battalion Chief for the Columbus Division of Fire, said if you witness injuries or death during an active shooter situation, they want you to still prioritize yourself.
“I think it’s important that you just get out of the building,” Geitter said. “Of course you want to help your fellow, you know, mankind, but I think in that scenario you have to just get out, save yourself, and then let us all come in and treat it.”
Albert said while situations like this are rare, they take it very seriously and work hard to be prepared. He said the Columbus Division of Police does an active shooter training of this nature about once a year, but is looking to do it more often.
“I can promise you that the public doesn’t see the amount of training our personnel go through,” Albert said. “I said yearly for something like this, right, but just last week, I was in training for defensive tactics and like approaches to subjects who might be armed with a firearm. We train constantly and we train as much as we can with Columbus Fire. We train as much as we can with other agencies. But I promise you, we are prepared for any event that the city has.”
He said they plan to review video taken during the scenario to see what could have done better.
