RICHMOND, Va. -- A massive joint-agency exercise on Wednesday at Virginia Commonwealth University helped teach first responders what to do should an active shooter situation happen on campus. The exercise consisted of 200 people from around 20 agencies.
"In the words of Benjamin Franklin, 'By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail,'" VCU Police Chief John Venuti said. "[This] allows us to evaluate our response, our protocols, determine what our strengths are, and establish gaps in our processes and procedures."
Venuti said an exercise of this scale, which took eight months to plan, hasn't happened on campus since before the pandemic.
The training is relevant considering the FBI reported 50 active shooter cases last year - including at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va. last November. More than 300 people were killed in those mass shootings.
"We've seen these situations can occur anywhere, at any point in time, any venue," Venuti said.
Among those involved were pretend victims like Ann Melle. The former EMT has been through several simulations like this and said the experience gained is crucial.
"This is designed to artificially stress them and stress test the system. So, it's huge. It makes a really big difference," Melle said.
Organizers said they planned the simulation by looking at real-life active shooter cases.
While still under investigation, Venuti pointed to June's Huguenot graduation shooting on campus outside the Altria Theater.
"We did see a rapid, aggressive police response that led to the immediate apprehension of individuals that were involved in that situation," he said.
Evaluators followed each team, marked their responses, and pointed out issues.
As first responders got their reps, Venuti said regular people can and should as well -- stressing the Run, Hide, Fight tactic as the most effective.
"Research shows that if you are prepared at any level, you're going to perform better when that emergency comes," he said.
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