ABBEVILLE, La (KLFY) – The Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office set up a simulation of an active shooter situation at J-H Williams Middle School in Abbeville to teach officers the correct techniques to stop an intruder.
The public information officer of the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office, Eddie Langlinais, said they wanted to make the scene as realistic as possible.
“We have somebody playing an active shooter in this particular scenario and law enforcement is training to go to the threat to neutralize that threat.” said Langlinais.
Langlinais also explained how training for situations like this have evolved over the years, ever since these types of scenarios have started to become more common.
“With columbine at that particular time law enforcement were trained to wait for help for assistance from others to respond to the threat.” he said, “Now they don’t wait. Now an officer is trained to respond strictly to the active shooter and neutralize them.”
Langlinais emphasized how preparations like this allow officers to remain fearless in these situations to make sure their credibility as first responders is kept.
He mentioned how there are videos out there of law enforcement standing around. “We don’t want that impression on Vermillion Parish Sheriff’s Office.”
With this type of training in place, the department and the other agencies involved believe they can prevent massacres like Uvalde, Sandy Hook and even Columbine from ever happening again.