Law enforcement, school officials learn about shootings and terrorism

Cathy Spaulding, Muskogee Phoenix, Okla.
·2 min read

Sep. 22—Former Douglas County, Colorado, Sheriff Tony Spurlock recalled challenges law enforcement and school officials faced after a 2019 school shooting near Denver that left one person dead and seven injured.

"For the longest time it was mass chaos," Spurlock said. "Unfortunately, we had one student that was killed, eight that were shot. We were just trying to deal with several thousand students, family members and friends who were descending on the school, just to get everyone reunited. It was a lot of chaos going on until we started really putting our stuff together and started to conduct our investigation."

Spurlock, now police chief at Oklahoma City University, spoke to nearly 100 law enforcement officers, school administrators and school resource officers attending an Antiterrorism Advisory Council training, held Thursday at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center. The sessions were closed to the public and media because they were law enforcement sensitive. However, several attendees spoke following the sessions.

Spurlock said a key to handling such incidents is partnership, "like what we're learning today with federal state and local law enforcement, schools and businesses."

"Partnering before an incident occurs minimizes and mitigates a lot of issues for the people who were victimized," he said.

David Johnston, assistant police chief at Eastern Oklahoma State College, said teamwork was the most important thing he learned Thursday morning.

"It's all about teamwork, starting with the FBI and going down to us lonely guys," he said.

Christopher Wilson, U.S. Attorney for Eastern District, said the Anti Terrorism Advisory Council was established after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. He said U.S. Attorneys in each Federal Judicial Court District were charged with setting up the task forces.

Past training sessions were held after the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, the Fort Hood shooting in 2014 and the San Bernardino shooting in 2015, he said.

"We have law enforcement officers or prosecutors who were involved in those cases," Wilson said. "It's just getting real life examples of what can happen and how you respond to them. The police officer on the street is going to be the first person on the scene when they get the call. It's an opportunity to hear from an officer who was in the fray."

Thursday marked the first training and meeting held since the COVID 19 pandemic of 2020, Wilson said.

Wilson said Thursday's sessions included the Oklahoma Counterterrorism Intelligence Center and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force regarding terrorism threats in eastern Oklahoma.