Law enforcement response to active shooter situations

An active shooter situation at a Florida high school has left 17 students dead.

Early scenes showed students running from the school, and law enforcement officers going into the school to try to stop the threat.

“We train for this situation like it’s going to be tomorrow, every day, we have to,” Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said.

Mikesell said all law enforcement agencies are prepared in case an active shooter shows up in their town or city.

“There’s so many different agencies that may be involved in this event. That’s why they’re all training in the same fashion,” Mikesell said. “What we’ve seen in law enforcement is that shooting has to be stopped immediately.”

Mikesell said if an active shooter scenario were to come to Teller County, or anywhere in the country, the first responding law enforcement officers would not be waiting for SWAT to arrive.

“The days of waiting for the SWAT team are pretty much over,” Mikesell said. “That initial response is to stop the threat and save lives and that is done by your officers on the street.”

Responding to a school can be especially challenging as there are many places for a shooter to hide. Sheriff Mikesell said because of that it can take extra time for officers to thoroughly clear a school of all threats.