Madison first responders complete surprise active-shooter drill at Journey Middle School

Madison police and fire personnel completed an unannounced active-shooter exercise Friday, July 17, at Journey Middle School, testing how responders would organize, communicate and operate during a simulated mass-casualty event.

The drill was a planned training exercise, not an actual attack or emergency. Its scenario began with a call reporting an active shooter at the middle school. Madison police officers were first directed to the Madison Public Safety Training Center before responding to the simulated incident.

The exercise was designed to test incident-command organization and operations as a school emergency developed. It also brought local responders together with neighboring agencies and community-college participants in a scenario involving multiple simulated victims and a school setting.

More than 30 role players

More than 30 drama students from Calhoun Community College served as role players. Their participation gave police and fire personnel an opportunity to work through a larger response involving people needing assistance in different parts of the simulated emergency.

Officers from the Huntsville and Athens police departments played the simulated shooters. Madison responders used paint-round firearms during the exercise.

The combination of outside officers, student role players and Madison’s police and fire personnel was intended to test coordination across agencies. Responders had to work through the command structure, communications and operational decisions required in a mass-casualty response rather than handling an isolated training scenario.

Public-safety planning

The drill comes as Madison’s police and fire chiefs have presented long-range public-safety plans to city leaders. The city has described the departments as planning for continued growth. Madison police also provide school-resource officers as well as community and court services.

Training exercises such as this one can help shape future training, command procedures and cooperation with neighboring agencies. For schools and families, the practical focus is how police, fire and other responders coordinate when an emergency involves a large number of students or other people needing help.

The city’s announcement did not disclose performance scores, specific deficiencies or deadlines for corrective action from the exercise. It identified the event as a surprise drill intended to test the departments’ response to a simulated mass-casualty incident.