ST. CHARLES PARISH, La. — In the hallways of J.B. Martin Middle School Tuesday, St. Charles Parish Deputies, prepared for something they hope they never need to respond to.
“You never really know what to expect because all of these incidents have a life of their own,” said St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne.
With what happened inside school hallways and classrooms in Uvalde, TX, Tuesday’s active shooter response training is a bit more urgent.
“It’s pretty much confined to mostly our patrol and enforcement officers, those who are most likely to be nearby or quickly respond to an incident,” said Champagne.
Champagne says training happens every other year and is part of a much larger scenario. More than a hundred officers are part of this multi-day session.
“It just keeps their skills sharp. It keeps their tactics sharp,” said Champagne.
With mass shootings happing across the country, like the one in Uvalde that left 19 students and two teachers dead, Champagne says there are always lessons to learn.
“They’re all different. The tactics are different. The whole layout is different, so we do learn from all of them,” said Champagne. “Information is still obviously coming in on the recent sad incident, but we will certainly try and learn from that as well.”
A 77-page report from a Texas house committee found first responders in Uvalde “acted appropriately” at first in their response, but then “failed to prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety.”
Champagne says his officers are aware of what’s at stake.
“I don’t think I have to tell them the importance of what we’re doing here, they know,” said Champagne.
What responders learn in these hallways is something school superintendent Ken Oertling says impacts the 9,600 students across the district.
“It’s pretty scary. It brings reality to the forefront,” said Oertling. “It’s surreal to feel it, but at the same time we have a responsibility for all of our kids,” said Oertling.
A responsibility practiced as make-believe but grounded in reality.
“No matter what, no matter how much you train, it’s always going to be bad. It’s always going to be a tragedy and things happen so quickly in something like this,” said Champagne.
This training is part of an ongoing response plan put in place by the sheriff’s office after the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado. The first training happened in 2001.