COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — Council Bluffs police, and other first responders, partnered with St. Albert Catholic School on Monday morning to conduct the school's first active shooter, live simulation.
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The training exercise took place while students were on break, with parents, teachers and students volunteering to play various roles during the simulation.
"The pro-active approach to these types of scenarios is a better approach than thinking it may never happen," said Pat Ryan, chief administrative officer at St. Albert.
High school senior Cohen Hamilton volunteered to play an injured student during the exercise, which included a trip by ambulance to a local hospital.
Physical education teacher Cory Lear says the simulation, which included police firing blanks and shouting commands, felt more realistic than previous training exercises.
"Just kind of makes you put everything in its perspective and, kind of like you said, that nervous, anxious feel of the difference of what a drill feels like compared to a live simulation," Lear said.
"I just think, practicing what is the worst case possibility is reassuring to us, for sure," Hamilton said.
Ryan says it was helpful: "Really gives us an idea of areas that we may need to go and tweak a little or things that we need to improve upon."
Council Bluffs Police Chief Matt Davis says the department has previously conducted security reviews and table-top exercises, but this marked the first active shooter simulation at St. Albert.
"We did well. Like any exercise, there's things that we did well and there's things that we can improve upon," Davis said.
The police chief said the goal is to conduct these simulations regularly, at least once per year. Eventually, police plan to run similar exercises at venues other than schools.
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