Where to expect more active shooter trainings in Western Washington

Seattleites along the waterfront can expect to hear gunfire on the water and see a heavy police presence Monday. The violent encounter is expected, however, as the Coast Guard, FBI, and other local agencies conduct active shooter trainings aboard a Washington state ferry.

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The exercise will take place on a ferry just off the shores of West Seattle from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. People nearby, and along the Seattle waterfront, should be able to see a large number of first responders and can expect to hear sirens and simulated gunshots.

“There will be no ferry riders onboard this ferry,” said Steve Strohmaier with the Coast Guard.

“You may hear gunfire or sirens,” he said. “We are trying to keep it as close to the real thing as possible.”

The drill will simulate a full-scale response to a large-scale attack. Strohmaier said that different types of weapons will be used in the exercise. The Coast Guard says there is no risk to the public.

“Helicopters will be in the air, and we’ll have other small boats responding to this incident,” he said.

Des Moines active shooter training

By land or by sea, various officials around Washington have been preparing active shooter trainings recently.

Des Moines police held their own drill for the community over the weekend. It was inspired by recent deadly shootings across the country.

“I think I’m always thinking about it; it’s how do you react during that moment,” Des Moines resident Anthony Hills told KIRO 7 TV. “If you’re in the vicinity, what do you do? …. it gives you a real different perspective, it really does.”

“Our children learn it in school, but as parents, we need to know what they’re learning, too,” said Robin Johnson, who drove up from Orting to take the class.

The active shooter trainings in Des Moines were held at various locations last weekend. Participants had to run, barricade and defend themselves. The trainings are the product of Officer Nathan Chevallier. He created the class two years ago with the goal of teaching the community how to survive various dangerous scenarios.

“It’s the same reasons I equate to why we practice fire drills or earthquake drills,” Officer Chevallier told KIRO 7 TV. “Someone can stand up there and talk about an active shooter incident all day long, but until they actually participate and know what to do, then they don’t have that true sense of what it takes to actually do that.”

Another community active shooter course in Des Moines is slated for January 2020.

KIRO 7 TV’s Siemny Kim points out that recent shootings have raised the profile of such trainings. A total of 58 people were killed in 2017 in the Las Vegas massacre. The 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting claimed the lives of 49 people. More locally, a shooting at Marysville Pilchuk High School in 2014 killed five people. Five people also died in a shooting at the Cascade Mall in Burlington in 2016. A shooter struck two people at a Tumwater Walmart in 2018.

The Associated Press reports that the FBI receives about 22,000 tips about potential threats of violence each week. That number has spiked by 15,000 after the shootings in Gilroy, Calif.; El Paso, Texas; and Dayton, Ohio.

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