The drill took place at Cypress Bay High School in Weston. Teams of Broward Sheriff’s deputies took turns storming into the 300 building, told that an active shooter was inside. Their job was to find the shooter, neutralize the threat, and treat the wounded.
The exercise was, of course, designed to give deputies crucial training but also to give the public reassurance that law enforcement has learned valuable lessons since the Parkland tragedy five years ago. That’s why Broward County School Board chair Lori Alhadeff, who lost her daughter in the Douglas High School shooting, was at the training event.
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WATCH HERE“My daughter Alyssa was in room 1216 and unfortunately she didn’t make it out that day on Valentine’s Day, and knowing that this training is going on, knowing that we’ve learned from the mistakes of the past and press forward and train to be as confident as we possibly can, knowing what to do in an active shooter situation, it’s so vitally important,” Alhadeff said.
Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony said this kind of training is the national standard now, but was not routine before Parkland happened.
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“Active shooter events, in general, is a two-pronged mission, the first of which is to stop the killing, and the second is to stop the dying. First element is getting into that environment, neutralizing the threat, stop them from being able to harm or kill anyone, and then transitioning to a tactical medical protocol to treat injuries, such as gunshot wounds to the arms, legs, extremities, etcetera, stop life-threatening bleeds, so we can get individuals who are victims preventative care,” Tony said, pointing out that deputies have a medical kit designed to stop bleeds.
Broward County Public Schools superintendent Dr. Peter Licata said schools are safe, but making them as safe as they can possibly be is a never-ending process.
“And remember, the best and safest campus is one where everyone knows they’re all responsible for safety,” Licata said, emphasizing the many ways students can report tips anonymously. “But we’re gonna tell parents the same thing: go through your child’s backpack, read their notes, see what’s at the bottom of that backpack, all the time we run into these issues on campuses, we always hear parents say the same thing, I never knew, where did they get it from?”
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Tony said hoax threats were a huge problem last year because they use up investigative resources and cause high levels of stress in school communities. Detectives will track down people who make cyber threats. Usually, they’re students, and not only is it a serious crime but making a threat will ruin a student’s academic career.
Doral Police conduct mass casualty attack exercise at charter school
With the school year starting in Miami-Dade County in the coming days, police in Doral also held a drill Thursday aimed to know what to do in case a tragic mass casualty event takes place in a local school.
Doral Police held a mass casualty attack exercise at the Downtown Doral Upper Charter School, conducting the drill with officers from the department and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
Officers went through drills that included dealing with injury victims, removing hostages from specific situations and taking suspects into custody.
