Active shooter situations are unfortunately becoming a common occurrence in today’s society.
One local church wants to help the public be prepared for a situation like those in Florida, Texas and California.
37th Street Church of Christ will host a Citizens Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) training at 7 p.m. Sunday. The Snyder Police Department will conduct the training.
“This is open to all who would want to attend and is being conducted by the Snyder Police Department. Knowing what to do could save your life,” said Minister Darrell Chappell.
In December, the police department announced it would begin conducting the training. It is designed to instruct people on what to do if they are caught in the middle of an active shooter event.
Sgt. Michael Counts and officers Rustin Webb and Robert Church attended a CRASE instructor course in Abilene and are now sharing what they learned with businesses, schools and civic groups.
Simply put, citizens’ responses to an active shooter event can be summed up by the acronym ADD — Avoid, Deny and Defend.
The first step is to avoid the situation, if at all possible.
“If you’re in a situation, get out of there if it’s possible,” Counts said in announcing the training. “We want you to do that even if you’re carrying a licensed firearm.”
If, however, you are trapped in such a situation, there are still options, Counts said.
“If you’re in a situation where you can’t avoid the threat, you should try to barricade yourself and others in an area in an attempt to deny the shooter access to you.”
If those two options disappear, however, the option of last resort is to defend yourself against the shooter, Crouch said.
“Sadly, these kind of events are happening more and more often,” he said. “We not only want to have police trained on how to respond to such an event, but citizens, as well.”