Md. First Responders Prepare For Active School Shooter
BEL AIR, Md. (WJZ) -- An active shooter drill was held at a Bel Air high school on Sunday to coordinate a response plan among first responders.
In an interagency drill to test readiness and ability to respond to a mass shooting at a school, the Bel Air Police Department, Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company and medical teams practiced their tactical techniques.
"It's something we need to address. It's something we need to practice and prepare for to be ready," said police Chief Charles Moore.
The police and fire company held a similar drill in 2016.
"It's a coordinated effort between the fire company, Bel Air Police Department and allied police department throughout the community that would be responding on this incident. What we try to do is prepare. Hopefully, we will never have an incident," said fire company Chief Steve Cox.
These attacks have become all too common. In March, one student was killed and another injured when a gunman opened fire at Great Mills High School. The shooter then killed himself.
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First responders in Harford County want to make sure they're ready for this type of crisis.
"I think we have seen it at Parkland, we've seen it at Sandy Hook. Time is of the essence, so to make us more efficient to just streamline things that's what we do," Moore said.
Officers from Maryland State Police and Harford County Sheriff's Office also participated in the active shooter drill.
"Built the incident management system as the incident dictated and it let us see the weaknesses and strengths," Cox said.
From law enforcement eliminating the threat to testing the Upper Chesapeake Medical Center's operations, the drill highlighted areas for improvement to create an effective response plan.
Last week, survivors from the Great Mills High School and Capital Gazette shootings held a gun safety rally in Annapolis to demand change.
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