OUPD hosts active shooter training with local law enforcement agencies

Photographer: George E. Mauzy Jr.OUPD Lt. Tim Ryan (standing left) and OUPD Ofc. Chad Touchet (standing right) take down OUPD Ofc. Michael Meek, who is portraying the active shooter in the training.

The outside of Lasher Hall was marked off by police tape from Aug. 13-17, as the Ohio University Police Department conducted its annual Active Shooter Response Training for area law enforcement.

The summer training is held to ensure officers know the latest techniques and have an opportunity to practice and fine tune their skills when responding to a report of an active shooter. Officers fired simulated ammunition — similar to paint balls — from their actual duty weapons, which are fitted with special barrels so that the officers can practice working with their own weapons.

“Our practice begins at the cruiser by getting out holding our rifle and then entering the building. We either work our way from room to room, find the threat and mitigate it, or by going toward the noise,” said OUPD Lt. Tim Ryan. “The active training helps. Certain tactics we learn apply wherever police officers are needed so we can get inside and minimize a threat.”

In addition to OUPD, the Athens County Sheriff Office, Ohio State Highway Patrol, and Athens Police Department participated in the training. The agencies practiced working side-by-side, as they would during a real active shooter scenario. Around 50 officers participated in the training throughout the week, with instructors from OUPD, the Athens County Sheriff’s Office, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol guiding the scenarios.

“We typically invite other local law enforcement agencies to train with us,” said Lt. Ryan. “We work closely with these agencies on a regular basis and will no doubt be working together in the event of a crisis.”

OUPD created a different scenario on each floor of the building. Several officers entered the building to mediate the situations, while an officer inside the building pretends to be the “bad guy.”

“The purpose of having an officer on the other end is to see their tactics,” said OUPD Ofc. Michael Meek. “You can see certain things to help them improve. I try to do something new each time. The possibility of the unknown keeps them on their toes.”

Community members interested in learning more about what they can do if they find themselves confronting an active shooter are encouraged to watch OUPD’s ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate) training video here and attend one of the public ALICE training sessions planned this fall.

Photographer: George E. Mauzy Jr.OUPD Ofc. Chad Touchet (front) and OUPD Lt. Tim Ryan (back) enters the hallway looking for the active shooter during the training on Aug. 16, 2018, in Lasher Hall.

Photographer: George E. Mauzy Jr.OUPD Ofc. Natasha Lorenz (front) enters Lasher Hall followed by Athens Sheriff Office Lt. Aaron Maynard (rear) on Aug. 16, 2018.