UVALDE, Texas — Uvalde police alongside other agencies are taking part in a nationally recognized training to enhance future responses to active shooter situations.
The three-day training is a major component of Uvalde PD’s ongoing Guardian Initiative to overall improve the department and rebuild trust with the community following the Robb Elementary shooting on May 24, 2022.
“We want to make this the safest community in the nation and that’s why we’ve come together. That’s why we’re doing this and that’s why we’re willing to share what we’ve learned, even some hard lessons, with others,” said Mike Davis, assistant chief of police at Uvalde PD.
The FEMA-funded training centralizes around active shooter incident management.
The three-day course at the Uvalde Civic Center features 60 participants, including law enforcement, fire and EMS personnel and 911 dispatchers.
Trainees are tasked with responding to active shooter scenarios that vary in levels of complexity. The exercises are carried out on multiple fronts, like laptops where law enforcement officers are interacting with virtual assets in a video game-like environment.
In another situation, participants wearing virtual reality headsets survey what they see on the ground while controlling a virtual helicopter.
The training is designed to establish a model for enhancing the time to threat neutralization and medical intervention with multiple agencies.
“We run the full gamut. It starts from the first shots fired all the way to transports to the hospitals with patients counts to make sure who went where. All the things that are involved in a real situation we’re modeling in this classroom,” Terry Nichols, vice president of C3 Pathways, the company that created the virtual elements of the active shooter training. “If you’re able to do something multiple times like we’re able to in this class that’s key because that will build muscle memory and they will realize what to do if a tragedy strikes.”
Javier Cazares, father of Robb victim Jackie Cazares, supports the efforts by first responders in Uvalde to engage in such trainings that could lead to being better prepared and saving lives in the future. Cazares has been a strong advocate for change and accountability following the massively delayed police response to the Robb Elementary shooting where 19 children and two teachers were killed.
“It’s a step forward. It’s been two years. There’s been a lot of slacking off, but it’s getting to where it seems they’re pushing forward with these trainings that obviously that they needed and need.”