Police, fire come together for active shooter training at Trine

Law enforcement often trains for active shooter scenarios, but in real life those situations involve many other agencies and organizations.

To better learn how coordination between departments would work in a shooting, multiple agencies took part in a unique joint training exercise Wednesday on Trine University’s campus.

The exercise simulated a shooting in an academic building, with the shooter fleeing to a residence hall. A second shooting was simulated in the residence hall.

Participants included Indiana State Police, the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office, Angola Police Department, Fremont Police Department, Ashley Police Department, Hamilton Police Department, Steuben County Emergency Management, Trine Campus Safety and all the fire departments in Steuben County.

Cross-departmental collaboration was a critical component of the exercise.

“When you look at recent active shootings, the thing we've learned is it's very important to get firefighters in there right away,” said Matt Lazoff, who assisted with planning the simulation.

Sixty-five students attending the Indiana State Police career camp at Trine role-played as victims or innocent bystanders.

Unique opportunity

Lazoff, the senior sergeant at the Indiana State Police Fort Wayne Post, said the idea for a broader training exercise came about when Cisco Ortiz, vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Trine, approached him about conducting an active shooter drill at the university.

“I said, ‘Hey, here's a unique opportunity that we've never done before,’ ” he recalled. “We can partner not only with law enforcement, but we can also bring in the fire department and we can bring in these students, giving it a realistic element you can't duplicate anywhere else.”

“Trine University gave us such a unique opportunity. They opened their facilities to us and said, ‘Hey, do whatever you need to make this work.’ ”

Also assisting with the coordination of the planning were Detective First Sergeant Chris Emerick of the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office, Lee Greenameyer from Steuben County Emergency Management and Jason Meek from Angola Fire Department. Emerick had participated in the last active shooter exercise conducted on Trine’s campus in 2013.

“We’re grateful for the service of our local law enforcement and emergency management personnel and are happy to support them in any way we can to help keep our community safe,” said Ortiz. “Our campus safety team was also able to participate and provide assistance to the responding agencies throughout the event.”

Lazoff said the goal was not only for the university and the various agencies to evaluate how they would respond in such an active shooter situation, but to help build relationships between all the parties involved and continue discussions on how they would coordinate efforts in a crisis.

“So often, there's a divide between businesses, law enforcement, fire, all those different elements,” he said.

Having the students participate heightened the realism of the exercise, since Lazoff said he usually feels fortunate to have five role players for active shooter training.

In exchange for their help, the students not only received a different perspective on law enforcement training, but also information they could use in an active shooter situation.

“God forbid, if it happens at their school, they’re more prepared,” Lazoff said.

Community and local school leaders were on hand to witness the exercise, and more information will be provided to local school corporations. Organizers also plan to have a follow-up tabletop simulation with Trine University administrators to discuss what additional actions the university would take following an active shooter scenario.

Prior to the exercise, all first responders, participants, and observers were treated to a meal in the Whitney Commons café with the assistance of Bon Appetit at Trine University.