TCSO hosts active shooter training event at Austin ISD school
AUSTIN, Texas - Multiple law enforcement agencies spent Wednesday at Rosedale School in Austin to prepare for a worst-case scenario.
The collaborative set of active shooter drills were headed by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office in response to Senate Bill 1852.
"We want them trained in real life scenarios," said Sheriff Sally Hernandez with TCSO.
The day was spent at the school for active shooter and active response training, with several law enforcement agencies in and around the county taking part.
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"I hate that we live in a day and time when we have to do this kind of training, but if we have to do it, let's do it right," said Sheriff Hernandez.
During the training, officials learned what to do if called out to an active shooter event, including how to set up an incident command, breach into a building and clear rooms.
Austin ISD offered to host the training inside one of its empty schools. This comes just two months after Sgt. Val Barnes, an AISD police officer, was shot in the leg while on duty near Northeast Early College High School. That incident led to a lockdown at the school and the suspect later being arrested for killing six and injuring three people.
AISD Superintendent Matias Serguas says it is critically important to be part of this sort of training.
"We have to train for these sorts of things nowadays where maybe in the past we didn't have to think about it as much, but I never want to be in a position where we're not prepared," he said.