Fountain schools team up for active shooter training

Widefield School District 3 teamed up with Fountain-Fort Carson District 8 Wednesday to hold their annual large-scale active shooter training drill after a year that has seen an increase in school shootings.

There are three exercises organized as realistic scenarios of danger: active shooter drills, students walking around with a knife, and custody disputes.

“In those few seconds we have to identify if the threat is credible,” said Cpl. Justice Reder with the Fountain Police Department.

There are usually three student resource officers (SROs) that are stationed to respond at local high school campuses. The training is specifically curtailed to their skill set in order to better prepare local districts if an emergency were to happen.

“They are the ones that will be in the building every day and will be the first responders,” said Montina Romero, the assistant superintendent for Fountain-Fort Carson High School.

The officers and faculty work on how to respond immediately, depending on the threat and whether or not it is credible.

Romero explains their teams are advancing their training with new techniques learned after studying recent tragedies like the Parkland High School mass shooting that took 17 lives.

“There’s no way to fully prepare for the situation which is why prevention is our very best tool,” Romero said.

Prevention now requires students, faculty, and police to be alert of odd behavior — going along with the saying “If you see something, say something.”

Law enforcement continues to reinforce the mentality: no one will ever fully be prepared for situations like this.

“It’s not if, but it’s a matter of when it’s going to happen to us,” said Lt. Brian Pearson with Fountain PD.

Pearson said that’s why prevention is a crucial tool and plans of action should always be in place.

There will be a safety prevention town hall for parents Thursday from 6-7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Fountain-Fort Carson High School.