WELSH — Nearly two dozen officers from the Welsh Police Department and Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office took part in an eight-hour active-shooter exercise at Welsh Elementary and Welsh High schools Wednesday.
As part of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training, offered by the Lake Charles Police Department, officers armed with air guns worked their way up and down the halls clearing classrooms and searching for a shooter.
“The purpose of the training is to save lives in different scenarios,” said Lake Charles police Cpl. Kevin O’Rourke. “Someone can walk in a school with an ax or machete and still can do as much damage as a gun. We have to be prepared for anything.”
Lake Charles SWAT team members worked with officers to prepare them for hostile environments.
“This is something I often think about,” Welsh police officer Jerry Doucet said. “I sometimes work as a (school) cross guard, and I wonder what I would do if a teacher ran out screaming.”
The officers learned how to move through the building and how to identify and stop threats. They also practiced moving drills and learned how to work in teams.
“I feel in an active-shooter situation there is no pattern or method to the selection of victims by an active shooter,” said Tiffany McFarlain, a resource officer for the Jeff Davis Sheriff’s Office.
“And these situations are, by their very nature, unpredictable and evolve quickly.”
Welsh police officer Brent Kratzer said the goal of the training was to make sure officers and first responders are prepared.
“God forbid that something like this would happen,” Kratzer said. “But if it does, we will know how to react.”
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