Georgetown Police Dept. conducts active school shooter training

GEORGETOWN, Ky. (WKYT) - Sounds of screams and gunfire were heard at Great Crossing High School on Tuesday—it wasn’t real, rather a simulation to help police respond to an active shooter.

The training for the Georgetown Police Department comes amid a new focus on police response following the deadly shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Georgetown police conducts different active shooter drills all year round, and one volunteer said Tuesday’s training was much more intense than he ever imagined.

“Really, I didn’t know what to expect, but when the shells, when the gunfire went off and stuff, you definitely have a reality check and stuff that this could be a real life situation,” volunteer Richard King said.

Assistant Chief Darin Allgood with Georgetown Police said they hope to never be in this type of situation, but it’s their job to protect the community.

“We started this morning at roll call at 7:00. It starts then. Everybody’s serious, they start getting their mind set whenever you come up to the front door,” Allgood said.

Volunteers ran through the hallways as police officers tried to locate the gunman. The training was based on many different school shooting scenarios, and volunteers had to wear goggles and earplugs to withstand the action.

Although the police department has their own training regulations, the School Safety and Resiliency Act passed in 2019 requires all school staff in Kentucky to participate in at least one hour of active shooter training.

Volunteers said they wanted to help in any way the could because a crime like this can happen anywhere.

“I think it’s going very well. I’ve heard a lot of comments from the sergeant that’s leading this training exercise that the officers are doing a lot of things right, and there’s some things that they need to learn, but that’s the whole purpose of the training,” King said.

The Georgetown Police Department holds different active shooter trainings several times a year. They said everyone in their department will get this training before school starts.

Kentucky school districts have an August 1 deadline to hire school resource officers, which is less than two weeks away. A new state law requires an SRO on every campus, but the state school safety marshal said schools will likely not meet that deadline.

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