Police train to handle shooters Saturday and Sunday at Woods Elementary

People are screaming. There is chaos. Officers in body armor duck around corners in school hallways with their guns drawn.

"Hey let's go! Let's go! Hurry up! Let's go!" an officer shouts to students. There is the sound of gunfire. "Get down! Get in there!"

This, luckily, is just a drill. To sum up a training session, the instructor makes it clear, "Once we hear the gunshots, what do we do? Go to it."

Fort Smith police are preparing for school shooters as a request for more funds for more armed security on school campuses has been recommended in a new state report. Gov. Asa Hutchinson has requested $50 million for armed security in Arkansas schools.

'We have to be prepared': FSPS reviews active shooter training prior to start of classes

OPINION: What can be done here to prevent another school shooting? | Steve Brawner

The Arkansas School Safety Commission's initial report has been released, and Gov. Hutchinson is calling a special legislative session to address his request with the first day of school approaching for state districts. The special session will start Tuesday, Aug. 9. The first day of school in Fort Smith is Monday, Aug. 22.

The report recommends armed presence on school campuses and locked doors at all times.

After the May attack at Uvalde, Texas and the criticisms of the response of police, officers in Fort Smith completed training ahead of the first day of fall classes.

Fort Smith officers completed one round of an ongoing active shooter session for newly hired cadets. Police planned to be involved with Fort Smith Public Schools safety officers in drills Saturday, Aug. 6 and Sunday, Aug. 7.

"Current events have unfortunately re-emphasized how all too important these training sessions are, and we are grateful to graduates of our Citizens Police Academy who came out to show their support and participate in helping us recreate the authenticity and chaos of an active shooter situation," a police spokesman reported.

Police took a video from a recent session for a look at what the training involves.

Also, Fort Smith businesses or organizations can offer their location for future police training sessions. Anyone interested can call the police at 479-709-5000.

State's school safety plans revamped since 2018

The Uvalde shooting this year brought the issue of school safety back to the forefront in Arkansas, Gov. Hutchinson said.

"It served as a reminder that the threat of violence in our schools has not abated. It continues to be real. And that we have to act with a renewed sense of urgency to protect our children. For that reason I reconvened the school safety commission," Hutchinson said in a Tuesday, Aug. 2 news conference.

Following the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Hutchinson formed the Arkansas School Safety Commission. It reconvened to take another look at school safety after Uvalde, he said.

'Every crowd, everywhere': Fear follows witnesses of mass shootings and radiates across America

From USA TODAY: This is America: Journalists are also struggling in the aftermath of mass shootings

The new report looks at the need for mental health treatment at schools and states, "no campus should ever be without an armed presence at all times when staff and children are attending class or major extracurricular activity.

Since 1997, six students, and one teacher have been killed in Arkansas school shootings. And 13 students, teachers or staff have been wounded. The shooting includes the Stamps High School shooting, 1997, which wounded two, and Westside Consolidated Middle School near Jonesboro where there were five killed and 10 people wounded. Three other school shootings have occurred, all since the Commission completed its work in November of 2018, according to the report.

Arkansas school shootings reported in the past three years include April 1, 2019, when a 14-year-old eighth-grade student at Prescott High School shot and injured a 14-year-old fellow eighth grader;  April 24, 2019, when a 14-year-old student at Concord High School shot himself and ended his own life in a restroom adjacent to the school cafeteria; March 1, 2021, when a 15-year-old student, in a premeditated attack, shot and killed a fellow 15-year-old classmate at Watson Chapel Junior High School, the report states.

The school safety report released Tuesday, Aug. 2 also mentions ways for law officers to break through walls or to get through locked doors when responding to a shooter situation.

Hutchinson talked about the report and introduced the Arkansas School Safety Commission chairwoman Cheryl May, who is also the director of the Arkansas Criminal Justice Institute.

May said, "We have made a tremendous amount of progress in a short amount of time."

The report will help to prepare for the upcoming school this year.

Hutchinson said, "We want to do that in a safe fashion."

The report also recommends school counselors, school resource officers and other personnel should receive more training to help mental health needs of students. All school districts should form a threat assessment team with proper resources, the report recommends.

The report concludes, "We are committed to working tirelessly to honor the victims of these tragedies and improve the recommendations of the original Commission to further help Arkansas schools develop school safety strategies to prevent, mitigate, respond to and recover from events of violence."

Greenwood Public Schools to host safety forums

Meanwhile, in Greenwood, residents are invited to upcoming security forums. One will be 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9 at the Greenwood High School Student Union and another forum at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10 with Greenwood Director of Security Jim Caudle speaking.

Caudle will give an overview of the security plans and procedures, and he will take questions and suggestions as the district prepares for fall classes, Assistant Superintendent Suzanne Wilson said.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Fort Smith police train for active shooter situations