LFP conducts two Active Shooter Drills in Town Center

Volunteers in moulage wounds
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

On a busy shopping day, a man armed with a military grade weapon walks into LFP Town Center and opens fire. Within minutes, dozens of people are dead and wounded. Others are taking cover or running. Business employees are trapped in their stores. The scene is chaos. 

Police need to locate and neutralize the shooter and clear the way for fire and medics to get to the wounded.

On October 25th and November 2nd, after the close of business, the Lake Forest Park Police Department dealt with such a scenario in their Active Shooter and Rescue Taskforce Training.

Fire and aid cars arrive on the scene
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Just as in a real situation, LFPPD, partnering with the Northshore Fire Department, called in all the regional response agencies, such as Shoreline PD, Shoreline Fire, Bothell PD, Bothell Dispatch, Kirkland PD, Kirkland Fire and Rescue, Mercer Island Fire, Norcom (Dispatch Center), King County Sheriff’s Office, Bellevue Fire, Woodinville Fire, and the Washington State Patrol, American Medical Response (AMR) and TriMed Ambulance services.

This training has been in the planning stages for many months and is the culmination of the LFPPD’s effort to train all city employees, community groups, area business employees, police employees and fire personnel in the nationally recognized Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) and the King County Scenes of Violence Response Procedure.

The King County Scenes of Violence Response Procedure was developed by the King County Police and Fire Chiefs to “provide a framework for King County Law Enforcement when responding to scenes of violence in mutual aid jurisdictions and with Fire/EMS support; Establish a regional, multidisciplinary policy, doctrine and planning, and; Integrated and interoperable incident command and communications.”

Police rush the door to enter the mall
and look for the shooter
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

The two training sessions were both held at the Lake Forest Park Town Center from 10pm-2am. Volunteers from the Northshore Emergency Management Coalition (NEMCo) and Moulage Mayhem provided logistical and actor support. The Mall ownership, Merlone and Geier, and the local businesses within the Mall were extremely supportive of this effort.

The first session focused on police response to the shooter. The second session, with Northshore Fire, focused on locating, transporting, and treating the victims.

Evacuating the injured to a safe place
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

This realistic training was developed for an active shooter scenario with the lessons learned from a coordinated response to a mass casualty situation.

This type of training is valuable in all types of mass casualty situations, such as those we have seen happen recently in other communities across the world. 

The coordination of a police and medical response to an active situation has been developed to improve communication and response between law enforcement and other emergency responders to quickly respond to save lives.

The scenario included officers using “Simunition” paint marker modified weapons which create a realistic but safe training opportunity. Officers responded to the mall and formed up teams to enter the mall and search out the shooters (Go to the sound of gunshots).

After the threat had been stopped, officers assisted in first aid and meeting medical responders from the various agencies to provide a safer entrance into what is called a “Warm” zone. This coordination ensures a quicker response in addressing any medical needs created by the incident. In coordination, the law enforcement officers and medical response officers evacuated the injured to a safe area where proper medical treatment could be administered.

As seen from mass casualty events around the country, this type of training is essential to ensure our citizens and first responders are prepared if this comes to our community.