STANWOOD — Stanwood High School principal Christine Gruver crept around a corner with a fake gun in her hands and her heart in her throat.
“Go! Go! Go!” an instructor yelled.
Gruver joined a school security officer and a group of Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies to race inside and face a threat they hope to never confront — a shooter in the high school.
For two days, sheriff’s deputies, including those who work as Stanwood police officers, practiced responding to someone who has opened fire in the halls and classrooms. Gruver and other school staff joined the training during the high school’s winter break as a way to understand what to expect from police in a shooting crisis, and to learn more about what school officials can do to help.
In a real shooting, a principal or teacher would not confront armed suspects. That’s a job for police.
“We hope we never have to use the training. Realistically, someday we will,” Edmonds police Cpl. Mike Bard said.
Bard helped to secure a grant from the Department of Homeland Security to pay for “active shooter” training in the county.
Last week’s training in Stanwood was the first of its kind for the sheriff’s office, sheriff’s Sgt. Ty Trenary said.
As more incidents of violence have occurred in schools, malls and office buildings, police departments across the country have begun training officers to stop a shooting rampage in public places.
“These are homicidal people who aren’t interested in negotiating. They are there to kill as many people as they can,” Stanwood police Sgt. Rob Palmer said.
In most situations, police are trained to surround a location and attempt to talk the suspect out. But the killings at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999 made police rethink that strategy.
There isn’t time to wait for a SWAT team to enter the building and apprehend the shooter, Trenary said. The officers who arrive first must act as fast as they can to eliminate the threat and save as many people as they can.
“Columbine changed things. There were two killers inside looking for and effectively killing people. Police can’t afford to wait outside,” said Martin Speckmaier of Comprehensive School Safety LLC in Seattle.
Speckmaier, a retired Edmonds police detective, said it is critical that all officers be trained for that threat.
Deputies who work in and around Stanwood likely would be the first to reach the high school. They need to know where to go and be familiar with the buildings, Trenary said.
“Some days it’s really bad to be a police officer, but you have to take action,” Island County Undersheriff Kelly Mauck said.
Island County sheriff’s deputies have trained at several schools, including two elementary schools that also are within the Stanwood-Camano School District.
Police and firefighters now have access to digital floor plans and photographs of all Snohomish and Island county high schools and middle schools. Additional money has been secured to finish mapping elementary schools.
A map is vital for an effective response, but training inside the building is even better, Trenary said. The county is hoping more school districts will invite deputies to train and familiarize themselves with the layouts of the county’s schools. Stanwood is the first district to work so closely with deputies.
The goal is to train all police officers in the county.
“One thing we know is if there’s an active shooter, it’s not going to be a single department responding,” Trenary said.
Earlier this year, officers from Edmonds, Lynnwood, Everett, Mountlake Terrace and other departments had similar training at Edmonds-Woodway High School. Some police officers have since received instructor ratings. Some of those new police trainers were in Stanwood.
The experience was an eye-opener for school officials, Gruver said.
“I was concerned about being involved,” she said. “It’s amazing what you’re capable of when your adrenaline gets going.”
Sheriff’s deputies were impressed that the district opened up the school and that administrators and security officers were willing to participate. Cooperation of school staff and their assistance during a shooting could save lives, Trenary said.
“If something happens, our school resource officer will be the only one here at first,” Gruver said. “We’ll be involved, not with a gun, but we need to know what we can do and how to react.”
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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