FAIRMONT, W.Va. — It has never seemed more important than now to prepare for a random act of violence.
That is according to Deputy Chief of Police Matt Swain at Fairmont State University who helped lead an active shooter drill on the university’s main campus Thursday.
“If we would have rescheduled this training and God forbid it happened somewhere else and we weren’t prepared for that,” questioned Swain. “If we didn’t do that, we could have effectively lost more lives because we’re sitting back waiting. I’m glad that we pushed forward, and if I had to do it again I would.”
University officers and police from the City of Fairmont, White Hall and the Marshall County’s Sheriff’s Department participated in a full day of training with a deadly Orland nightclub shooting that killed 49 people still fresh in their minds from Sunday.
Swain described a realistic scenario based out of Fairmont State’s Morrow Hall, a student housing building on campus.
“We had our bad guy shooting blanks. We had an IED explosion go off. The explosion was so loud it set fire alarms off. Our officers have to learn how to work through that.”
FSU contracted with Level C Tactical. The company’s name is “derived from high risk training conducted at the U.S. Army Survival Evasion Resistance Escape School” according to the business website. The company specializes in active shooter threat training for police and military.
From administration to students, Swain said preparedness is top of mind.
“We had some help of role players from students to faculty members, football team, swim team, student government. Everybody has pitched in because I think they realize the importance of it.”
Training continued from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.