Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Tabletop Exercise Active Shooter Division for Law Enforcement, Homeland Security, and Institutional Research

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Rules of the Road  Creativity/Group Problem Solving  Use the knowledge and information available in the room  Active Thinking  Active Listening  Active Participation  Respect – challenge ideas, not people  Reality Check – make the exercise real for you.

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Agenda  Introductions  Scenario  Description  Hot Wash (Debrief)  Action Planning

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Introductions

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu The Exercise Continuum  Drills  Tabletop Exercises  Functional Exercises  Full-Scale Exercises

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu What is a tabletop exercise?  Simulates an emergency situation in an informal, stress-free environment  Initiates discussion of emergency guidelines  Focuses on training and familiarization with roles, guidelines, and responsibilities

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu How does a tabletop exercise work?  Scenario-based discussion, guided by a facilitator  Problems talked through without stress  Evaluators selected to observe and offer feedback on the proceedings  Policies, plans, and guidelines are updated

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu What determines the success of a tabletop?  A successful tabletop leaves participants with:  A positive learning experience  Organizational learning  Improvement Action Planning  More effective policies, plans, and guidelines  Improved preparedness

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Exercise Guidelines  This exercise is designed to test the preparedness of the _____ to respond to a multi-agency, multi-site emergency event.  Following the exercise, there will be a debriefing time or “Hot Wash.”  Each participant will be given the opportunity to share their views on what worked well and what needs to be addressed in additional planning, training and/or drilling.

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Exercise Guidelines (Continued)  _____ISD/college policy shall govern all activities relating to the emergency event.  The facilitator shall serve as the exercise referee and will provide any official interpretation of the exercise rules.  Although we will not actually be contacting them, ISD/college and outside resources are available to assist you.

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Exercise Guidelines (Continued)  From time to time, there will be injections to the scenario. These are intended to further assess response to the exercise scenario.  This is a learning experience.

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Purpose  To examine current policies, procedures, resources and actions in the context to a response to multiple sexual assaults in a college setting  To promote greater understanding and ability to apply NIMS/ICS principles in a college setting  To make improvements as identified as an outcome of the exercise

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Objectives  To evaluate policies and procedures  To evaluate command and control including communications procedures  To identify resources needed vs. available  To identify training needs  To identify needed improvements and create an action plan to address those needs

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Demographic Overview On this slide, add bullets of information about the demographics of your school/college, including but not limited to:  Number of schools/facilities  Types of schools/facilities  Athletic facilities  Student population  Employee population

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu First Responder Resource Overview On this slide, add bullets of information about the first responder resources immediately available to your school/college, including but not limited to:  Police  Fire  EMS

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Threat Assessment  On this slide, add bullets of information about the known threats to your school/college, including but not limited to:  Internal threats  External threats

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario Narrative  Today is the first day of classes for the new school year.  Students are busy finding their classrooms and moving from one class to another.  It is 9:30 a.m. on a beautiful, clear autumn day.

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario (Continued)  Assistant Chief _____ is informed of an active shooter/killer situation at a San Antonio ISD campus  The active shooter/killer incident is in progress at the SAISD*  The media is beginning to report on the situation but little information is available at this time

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions  What do you need to know?  How do you find the information?  What does your EOP direct?  What are you going to do?

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario – Inject #1  It has been reported that the initial police response at the SAISD was repelled with one officer killed and two wounded.  Media reports indicate that students, faculty, and staff members have been wounded and killed in the initial attack.  Gunfire has ceased and a hostage situation is in progress.

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions  What do you need to know?  How do you find the information?  What does your EOP direct?  What are you going to do?  Do you have the law enforcement resources at the ready if this were to happen on your campus?

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario – Inject #2 (20 minutes later/10:50 am)  A second attack has been reported at another Texas campus (e.g. Waco ISD) approximately 100 miles from the location of the first attack and hostage situation.  The hostage takers have been reported as using Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) to repel police.  No other information is available at this time.

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions  What do you need to know?  How do you find the information?  What does your EOP direct?  What are you going to do?  What actions will you take?  Do you activate your ISD incident command?  What is your ICS structure?

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario – Inject #3 (15 minutes later/11:05 am)  A panel van drives into the parking lot of the _____ MS* campus via _____ Dr. Two men with rifles step out and begin shooting students and staff members as they enter the _____building.  A second vehicle arrives at the _____ Dr. entrance and drives toward the back of the complex. Two additional men begin shooting as they enter the rear of the building.

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions  What happens next?  What actions have you taken to deal with this incident in-progress?  What do you need to know?  What do you need to do?

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario – Inject #4 (10 minutes later/11:15 am)  The HISD-PD Dispatch receives notification of two Middle Eastern men being arrested after a DPS traffic stop at Interstate- ___ near the ___ St. exit.  The vehicle they were driving has several firearms, ammunition, and what appears to be pipe bombs.  The vehicle also contains maps of all ___ISD Middle Schools including _____ MS.

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions  What happens next?  What actions have you taken to deal with this incident in-progress?  What do you need to know?  What do you need to do?

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario – Inject #5 (10 minutes later/11:25 am)  A panel van drives up to the front of the _____* MS campus.  Two men with rifles step out and begin shooting students and staff members as they walk toward the dining hall.

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions  What happens next?  What actions have you taken to deal with this incident in-progress?  What do you need to know?  What do you need to do?

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario – Inject #6 (30 minutes later/11:55)  The shooter/killers at (second site)MS campus have been shot and killed by responding officers.  The shooter/killers at (first site)MS have repelled the initial police assault killing two officers and wounding one.  A hostage situation has ensued; the campus is silent and free of gunfire.

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions  What happens next?  What actions have you taken to deal with this incident in-progress?  What do you need to know?  What do you need to do?

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu ICS Structure Questions  Who is the Incident Commander?  Who is the Public Information Officer?  Who is the Liaison Officer?  Who is the Operations Chief?  What other ICS positions will you activate and who will fill them?

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Scenario – Inject # 7 (2 hours later)  The shooter/killers at both campuses were shot by police and the area has been secured  You have multiple fatalities and injured students, faculty, and staff  The media, parents, and local citizens are converging on your campus  You learn that you were one of four ISD/MS attacked in Texas and three other states

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions  What do you need to know?  What do you need to do?  What is the ___ISD incident command going to do to deal with this rapidly expanding complex incident?  What resources will ___ISD and the supporting first responder agencies bring and how?

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Questions  What are you going to do during the recovery stage of this incident?  Can you accomplish this with your current level of  Planning  Training  Resources  Situational awareness

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Hot Wash

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Hot Wash  What can be done to improve campus police operations?  What internal divisions are required to work together?  What external agencies will the liaison officer need to work with?  Are all necessary agreements in place to facilitate cooperation among agencies?

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Hot Wash (continued)  How well did/will your EOP operate and what actions will you take toward improvement?  How well did/will your ICS Team operate and what actions will you take toward improvement?  How well did/will your Communications Plan operate and what actions will you take toward improvement?

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Your Law Enforcement Readiness?  Command and Control  Communications  Training  Physical and Human Resources  Legal Authority

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Law Enforcement Training  Use of force  Firearms  Response to Active Shooter/Killer  Reality-Based Training  Emergency Management Training

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Action Plan  Lessons learned during this scenario will lead to a college action plan to  Keep Doing _____  Stop Doing _____  Start Doing _____

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Conclusion  The Texas School Safety Center, Division for Law Enforcement, Homeland Security, and Institutional Research is available for:  Training/Facilitation  Technical Assistance  Information

Texas School Safety Centerwww.txssc.txstate.edu Contact Us Web: Phone: