ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange County Public Schools hosted a full-scale training exercise for dealing with active shooters on a school campus Thursday ahead of a new school year.
The scenario took place at Horizon High School in Winter Garden, in coordination with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Orange County Fire Rescue.
Dozens of first responders were brought in for the exercise which simulated three active shooters.
Deputies worked in coordination with administrators to locate and neutralize the threats before paramedics were allowed to come in and care for the simulated victims.
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“This training is going to help ourselves get ready and prepare,” Sheriff John Mina said. “I think we’re very good, but there’s always room for improvement and we’ll be ready should tragedy strike.”
Officials said the scenarios help improve communication and response time if a violent situation happens on a school campus.
“It allows us to really get a hands-on training on what if, God forbid, we should have an active shooter in our schools,” Superintendent Maria Vazquez said. “Our teams come together to not only experience it, but then debrief and learn from it. That is invaluable.”
The training came at the end of OCPS Preparedness Days, which is a three-day workshop for staff to train on several topics.
The first day of classes for students in Orange County is Aug. 10.
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