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25 www.officer.com May 2014 Law Enforcement Technology DISASTER RESPONSE A s it turns out, lightening can strike twice. On Wednesday, April 2—for the second time in Fort Hood history—the nation's largest military base was the site of a mass murder. Just five years earlier, November 5, 2009 Major Nidal Hasan opened fire, killing 13. This time Sgt. Ivan Lopez, an Iraq war vet, was apprehended for killing 3 soldiers and wounding 16 more. These scenarios are always something of a shock. But as time goes on similarities and patterns can be drawn from the chain of events…and first responders are quick to turn information into practice. Looking back Former Illinois State Police officer Col. Michael Snyder remembers when he was involved in an active shooter call at the Illinois State Capital in the fall of 2005. "It was mass confusion," says Snyder, now presi- dent of the Hero911 Network. "No, we didn't know what was happening and…not to criticize…all major critical incidents appear that way. The information constantly changes; communication tools, radio frequencies…a lot of this has gotten better over time. Many communication tools are better but they are still not where we need to be, by any means." He recalls so many witnesses and so many people were involved, information conflicted and changed constantly. "One person would say yeah, it was a guy in a blue coat and he's still in the building. Another person would say no, it was a guy in a red shirt and he's already left." This special brand of chaos is precisely why active shooter training programs continue to be a hugely important, regular occurrence in the U.S. Barely a week before Lopez opened fire at Fort Hood, members from the 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, and local civilian law enforcement agencies conducted joint law enforce- ment training in nearby Killeen, Texas. Members of the DOJ-sponsored Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) program held court at Texas State University to teach responders The business of active shooter prep How many ways do you train? By Sara Scullin LET_24-28_ShooterTraining0514.indd 25 4/18/14 3:27 PM