Emergency crews in Shawano County were in Bonduel Wednesday morning practicing for a situation they hope to never be involved in.
An active shooter training scenario took place at St. Paul Lutheran School and Church in Bonduel and was an opportunity for law enforcement and emergency crews to practice their response.
The situation, however, was a little different. Bonduel Chief of Police Todd Chaney said it was an outdoor scenario, which leads to some challenges.
“Being out in the open is often times more difficult for law enforcement because there’s no cover available,” said Chaney. “In a building you can be more systematic. When you have a wide open area like this, and you have a shooter that might be somewhat mobile, it creates a whole new dynamic. That’s why we chose to do it this way because this kind of approach is not often practiced.”
The exercise was funded through grant money that was leftover from other exercises. While the hope is to never go through this in real life, Chief Chaney said the practice is valuable.
“From a tactical perspective, it’s good for us to practice these tactics. You have basically three different tactical approaches. You have the first responders, then you have the tactics of the emergency response team, and then after that you have the tactics of EMS and fire response to care and triage and transport the victims,” explained Chaney.
Emergency management made sure it was as close to the real thing as possible, with a mock shooter that barricaded himself, mock victims, and a complete response that included an ambulance taking the victims to safety.
Those involved in the exercise evaluated themselves. Those evaluations will be looked at and used to make future plans and policies in place for real life situations.