ACTIVE SHOOTER DRILL AT COPPER MOUNTAIN DRILL YESTERDAY

With school shootings in the headlines, our own Morongo Basin Sheriff’s station held a training exercise at Copper Mountain College yesterday. Reporter David Haldane was there and files this report…
It began with a resounding pop, pop, pop! Within minutes sheriff’s squad cars were converging on Copper Mountain College with emergency lights flashing. But this wasn’t a heartbreaking replay of the tragic shootings that have plagued college campuses nationwide. Instead, it was a training exercise staged Tuesday to prepare law enforcement personnel should such an event occur here.
What made this exercise different, Sheriff’s Captain Jeff Joling said, was the coordinated involvement of fire trucks and ambulances. “It represents the unification of all critical agencies in a real situation,” he said. “We’re always looking for ways to improve.”
It didn’t take long for the twenty-plus officers, armed with fake handguns, to subdue the active shooter, played by a colleague sporting a gray T-shirt. “Excellent!” Joling said when it was over. “Preparing and training is the best way to keep safe.”