CRANDON, Wis. (WJFW)- Last week a school shooter in Uvalde, Texas took the lives of 21 people, 19 of which were children. The Department of Justice is now investigating the Uvalde police response, which has been under heavy criticism for not taking action sooner. Questions are now being raised about whether or not local law enforcement is prepared for an emergency situation. 

Newswatch 12 met with Forest County Chief Sheriff Deputy, Alex Walrath who says deputies in Forest County are prepared. 

"We do train for those situations, (and) I feel that's one of the bigger threats facing society and the keeping our community safe," said Walrath. 

Nationwide, there have now been 27 school shootings since the start of this year, according to EducationWeek. Last week's Texas shooting is just a part of a rising trend. 

"So, we are increasing our amount of training that we do on that and putting additional resources towards those types of situations," said Walrath. 

By putting more resources and funding into their training, Walrath says the deputies can better be prepared in the worst of cases.

"We're putting that more into our firearms training. We do that three to four times per year focusing more of that training, active threat training in our firearms situations," said Walrath. 

He says the department's top priority is working towards protecting their community in all situations. 

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