SCSO, TPD schedule two active shooter trainings for next week at SCMS

As a reminder, the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office in partnership with the Toccoa Police Department will be conducting two active shooter trainings next week.

The training will be located on the campus of Stephens County Middle School.

Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley says they want the community to know that as public servants, they take active shooter events very seriously.

Shirley says the trainings will run from 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. on July 12 and July 14.

He adds that these active shooter exercises were scheduled several months in advance, and their preparation is significant in light of the recent mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

The Uvalde shooting was carried out by an 18-year-old gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers.

Shirley says during the training exercises at the middle school, emergency vehicles will be parked near the school and Stephens County Senior Center.

Residents and those who may be passing by the middle school may hear law enforcement firing blank and paint rounds, which replicate the sound of gunfire and mark officers’ targets with paint.

Shirley says, in a simulated active shooter scenario, law enforcement officers will search a building, move in formation, enter a crisis site and isolate a “shooter.”

This is an Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) and allows officers to implement a consistent response for mass casualty events across the nation.

Shirley says learning advanced techniques from the program ensure local law enforcement agencies are successful in deescalating these types of situations, and it reassures community members that they are making every effort to train officers to the best of their ability.

He adds that “law enforcement will also receive statistical information from active shooter situations in the past, critically evaluating how they can learn from those failure in the future.”

Again, there will be two active shooter exercises on July 12 and July 14 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Stephens County Middle School.