CROSBY-It could happen anywhere, anytime-a mass school shooting. Even in the small town of Crosby.
Police, firefighters, first responders and emergency personnel from the Cuyuna Lakes region, along with high school students got a glimpse Saturday, Sept. 22, of what an active shooting could be like.
Close to 100 students and adults acted out the scene of a school shooting in the common's area at Crosby-Ironton High School in Crosby, with a mission to help emergency responders be more prepared if a school shooting were to happen.
The scene is set
The active shooter fired a "stage gun," where the barrel was blocked and the ammunition was blanks. Several students, moulaged to show their gunshot wounds more realistically, were hit and laid scattered over the common's area, where students typically eat lunch. A student had a gunshot wound to the leg, another to the arm and several had bloody gashes on their faces and other body parts. Screams and cries for help were heard as the mock 911 call was made. Police were the first to arrive. Police entered the school with airsoft guns. They passed the common's area with injured students, who were screaming as they heard more shots fired down the hallway. Officers pursued the shooter to the far end of the building, where the shooter took his own life. While officers began rescuing victims, they were ambushed by a second shooter. Officers were able to take control of the shooter, handcuffed him and took him into custody.
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Police checked all classrooms to make sure they were clear of any other possible suspects and to get the students out safely. Students were directed to barricade doors to keep themselves safe in case a shooter would enter the room. Once officers were able to get doors open, frantic students came out running and screaming. They were directed to go to the nearest exit.
In several separate trips, paramedics, first responders and firefighters followed police officers for their own protection around the common area and to the classrooms to reach the injured students. The injured parties were then carried outside to a safe zone on a gurney or stretcher. One student, who was in the same classroom with the shooter who killed himself, was taken outside on an office chair on wheels to get through the fallen and scattered tables and chairs in the room.
Medical personnel treated the injured students on a medical blanket on the grass as ambulances took as many patients as they could to the hospital. Four students had to be airlifted out. Both North Memorial Air Care and Life Link III were called to respond to the mass mock shooting.
As emergency responders worked the scene, an improvised explosive device/pipe bomb was found underneath one victim. The bomb never went off.
The scene was controlled within 20 minutes and cleared in 45 minutes. The result was three people died and 18 were injured.
Analyzing the response
The active shooter event was structured to focus on training area first responders including police, fire, emergency medical services and local volunteers on what to do if an actual school shooting took place. The event incorporated all elements of an actual active shooter situation including students, staff, parents and media and public safety personnel.
"The active shooter event is structured to allow events to unfold in as close to real time as possible and create a near-realistic situation," Bryan Krantz, the EMS educator at Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in Crosby, said before the event. "In doing so, we hope to identify deficiencies in the overall response and make corrections to ensure that, should an actual shooting occur, our area first responders can react appropriately and minimize loss of life.
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"Our hope is that we will never have to respond to this type of event, but we recognize that these events can occur anywhere and at any time and preparing accordingly allows us to better serve our communities."
After the training event, Krantz said it went as smoothly as they could expect.
"I think there was plenty of chaos but that is what happens," Krantz said. "Mass shootings are a complex issue and it's not going to be solved anytime soon so we have plan and prepare for it. Even if we like to think it could not happen to us because it could. It could happen anywhere."
Crosby Officer Alan Booth, who also helped organize the event, agreed with Krantz.
"It went well," Booth said. "There is going to be chaos, but that is what there always will be. This is controlled chaos, it's not an exact science."
Booth, who is an Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate instructor for the Crosby Police Department, said every emergency services agency performed their function properly. "Improvements are always being made," Booth said. "If this, God forbid, happens in the next weeks or next days or so I believe we would be ready to stop the incident, recover the victims and increase survivability."
Booth said as an ALICE instructor, he must look at national shooting statistics when planning a training event. He said when they planned Saturday's event they wanted to have training on a worst case scenario, which is why they had two shooters and and IED.
Agencies at the event included the Crosby, Pequot Lakes and Deerwood police departments; Crosby, Ironton, Deerwood, Garrison and Cuyuna fire departments; and first responders from central Minnesota, which includes Emily, Outing and Crosslake.
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Deerwood Police Chief Mark Taylor said the event was executed well.
"This was my third or fourth (shooting training event) that I have gone through," Taylor said. "This one was one of the most elaborate ones I've gone through. Coming into this situation, it was set up to be very high intense. The whole thing was a learning process.
"A scenario like this is something you hope would never happen," Taylor said. "But in today's world it is something where there is always a chance it can happen."
Taylor Eigenheer, a senior at Crosby-Ironton, played a victim who was shot in the leg. He is the student who had to be transported outside to safety on an office chair. Once he was outside, he was taken by ambulance to the landing zone to the helicopter to be flown to a hospital.
"This was a test for all the workers out here," Eigenheer said. "It was a fun experience. They all worked hard to make sure I got out safe and I am thankful for that.
Eigenheer said during the event he was excited and wondered what would happen next and how long it would take.
"I learned a lot," he said. "I know a lot better what firefighters and police do in these type of situations."
Logan Cook, a ninth-grader at C-I, had two gunshots to his leg. He said his role was to be in pain and when rescued he would be able to walk with assistance. Cook said his friend's dad helped organize the event and asked him if he wanted to volunteer.
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"I thought it would be fun," Cook said.
Cook said school shootings seem to occur a lot and, for him, it would be good to to have this learning experience from the training exercise.
"Honestly I don't think it scares me (school shootings) but it is a scary thought as it can happen anywhere anytime, even in Crosby. I try to stay positive and not think like that though."
For more photos go to https://bit.ly/2MYEcRK
