WKU police participate in active shooter training

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Western Kentucky University Police Department took part in a two-day active shooter training scenario in order for the members of the department to be able to better respond to a chaotic event.

Support services officer Paul Burden says that any training that is properly orchestrated is good training for the officers.

“We’re just utilizing some of our in-house instructors to take advantage of some of the training that they’ve had in the past. It’s just a good opportunity for them to showcase what they’ve learned, and what they’ve done. It’s a good, good refresher for the rest of us,” Burden said.

The training took place partly in a classroom, which gave the officers the ability to exchange ideas and best practices, as well as go over tactics. Then they moved over to McCormack Hall where training officers had set up like there was a live fire situation with an active shooter.

“Training is obviously very important to all of us. And I think getting an opportunity to do those things in a live scenario in the buildings that we may have to be called to is just an awesome idea and it gives us a real opportunity to prepare for something that we hope might never happen,” Burden said.