Active shooter training at Pueblo East High School is as real as it can be

Friday, first responders rehearsed their plans for a nightmare that they hope to never encounter. Pueblo Police alongside other first responders such as Pueblo Fire and AMR simulated an active shooter situation at Pueblo East High School. The students came in early on their day off to participate in the drills.

Just because this was a simulation, it doesn’t mean there weren’t real elements to it.

In order to make the simulation as real as possible, the “shooter” was given a background as a disgruntled janitor at the high school. The man was armed with a shotgun and an AR-15. Students who were walking the halls before the exercise let out real screams as blanks exploded throughout the hallways.

“We just ran into the closest classroom,” said Nina Trujillo, a sophomore at the high school. “The adrenaline was just pumping so hard at that point.”

“We want to get the adrenaline pumping,” said Pueblo Police Capt. Charlie Taylor. “We want to make this as real as we possibly can.”

Taylor says the realism makes for better training. Pueblo police have held active shooter drills in the past, but this year, officers looked to improve in one specific area.

“The initial part of the active shooter, we do a great job,” said Taylor. “It’s the aftermath we needed to work on, the reunification: work on getting injured out of the building quicker.”

Taylor says he likes what he saw during Friday’s exercises.

For some, like Patrol Sgt. Antoinette Ramos, this was their very first active shooter training. Ramos’ biggest takeaway was just how much needs to get done to avoid confusion.

“Learn the hallways, listen to radio traffic, call out to the SWAT team, the bomb squad, get the injured school resource officer, get to the principal with keys. There is a lot of stuff going on,” Ramos said.

For many of the officers who answered the first calls of shots fired, they did not have the best possible protective gear. Donations to Shield 616 could change just that.

“It would give each one of those responding officers that same level of protection … and at the end of the day, that would make me feel better and it makes the officers more comfortable and I think they would also respond more effectively,” Taylor said.

That’s also what the training is for: getting ready to respond to the worst.

If you would like to help out Pueblo Law Enforcement have the best protective gear when they do respond. Please donate to Shield 616 by clicking HERE.