'Unfortunate' but 'necessary': York County responders train to be ready for active shooter scenarios

YORK COUNTY, Maine — An active shooter walks into a local school and begins to wreak violent havoc.

Someone intentionally makes a false report of an active shooter at a local school, in an effort to tie up authorities and terrify the community.

What would your town’s school district and first responders do? How prepared are they for either of the scenarios described above?

In Sanford, people know the answer, as this week makes one month since the active shooter scare at the city’s high school.

But in other school districts? Such as RSU 21, which serves students in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel, or the Wells-Ogunquit Community School District?

Training for 'positive outcomes'

Earlier this month, Kennebunk Fire Rescue hosted a two-day course designed to train first responders in active shooter preparedness by teaching them tactical emergency casualty care. Fire Rescue Chief Justin Cooper hosted first responders from throughout the region at the West Kennebunk Fire Station.

A Maine-based organization called Dirigo Readiness Resources Group led the course, which involved scenario-based simulation and equipment training. The course concluded with a reality-based exercise in which an active-shooter event was staged, complete with mass casualties.

How realistic was that culminating exercise?

“We won’t share any photos or videos of the most realistic scenarios, as they are so realistic they might upset some people,” Cooper said in an email. “Unfortunately, this is very necessary training for public safety.”

Cooper said that such training is important to help make first responders ready to work with law enforcement agencies to “stop the bleeding and have positive outcomes.”

“Through this kind of realistic training, I hope to bring together and better prepare fire, police, and emergency management professionals in responding to such events in the future,” Cooper said.

Cooper said the training also is about building relationships – and not just among first responders and authorities.

“We know to effectively respond to and care for patients in these types of events,” Cooper said. “We have to have an excellent working relationship amongst all stakeholders in the process ... We hope to only further enhance our relationships and communications with our schools and local businesses.”

According to Cooper, the course met and exceeded thousands of guidelines set by the National Fire Protection Association for response to active shooters in hostile environments. As well, the course is endorsed by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma.

Cooper said a grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation made the course possible through its Maine Workforce Development Compact Program.

Security in place

In this day and age, school districts are taking steps to try to ensure that schools are secured against intruders. For example, earlier this week, Wells-Ogunquit Community School District Superintendent James Daly expressed confidence that WOCSD and local first responders stand ready to protect schools against active shooters.

“Our district, like all the other districts, practice our safety drills routinely,” Daly said in an email.

Last year, the district purchased safety and security devices for all classroom doors at Wells Elementary School, Wells Junior High School and Wells High School, according to Daly.

As well, Daly said, each school has a full-time school resource officer on duty – which means, as was the case at Sanford High, a first responder is on scene precisely when the crisis begins.

Access to all main entrances at all three schools are controlled by their front offices, Daly added. Also, surveillance cameras are installed inside and outside schools throughout the district, according to Daly.

“We will continue to be vigilant with safety preparedness through our school district,” Daly said.

RSU 21 Superintendent Terri Cooper said the district follows a comprehensive emergency plan that uses guidance from the Maine Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure school safety.

Cooper said the district’s schools have 24-hour surveillance in place and physical security perimeters with locked doors. Cooper also mentioned the school resource officers, RSU 21 administrators, the local police and fire department, and Emergency Medical Services as resources for safety and protection.

“We are continually auditing and refining our emergency program to be prepared,” Cooper said.

Numerous 'swatting' events in recent weeks

The training in Kennebunk was timely, and not just because of the Sanford scare and the nine other ones throughout Maine in November. Days after the training, schools in Portsmouth and Dover, New Hampshire, less than 30 miles away, also were targets of active shooter hoaxes.

In those instances, police in both communities responded in force and swept the schools. As was the case in Sanford, authorities determined within an hour that there were no intruders anywhere in any of the schools – and, as was the case in Sanford, student, staff, parents and both communities were left shaken, first by the belief that there was a shooter and then by the aftermath of learning it was a swatting event.

Last month, the students and staff at Sanford High School experienced a “swatting” event, in which someone posing as a teacher called the local dispatch center and lied that a gunman had shot five individuals and was stalking the halls.

Authorities were at SHS in about three minutes, arriving armed and in large numbers and scouring the school for the suspect. It was only about an hour later that police, fire and school officials began to suspect the situation was a swatting situation with reports of active shooters in numerous other communities throughout Maine.

But the incident was no less terrifying for everyone involved.

In an editorial, The Spartan Times, the online newspaper for Sanford High School, said the incident they experienced just days before was not a hoax.

“To us, it was real,” the Times wrote. “To us, our lives were in danger. That morning, after the chilling intercom announcement, teachers and students barricaded our classrooms. We threw desks, shelves and filing cabinets in front of doors and interior windows. We tore books off the shelves as means of protection. We texted our loved ones as we huddled in hiding places throughout the school. How can we call that a hoax?”

City officials and members of the public have praised the response of Sanford’s first responders, showing gratitude for the leadership, swiftness, and thoroughness they showed that day. The city manager, mayor and mayor-elect commended such efforts during a meeting that evening. Residents shared their gratitude in posts on social media. Even the recent “Holly Daze” Parade in downtown Sanford included a banner expressing appreciation.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: York County first responders train to prepare for active shooter scenarios