On Friday afternoon a group of police officers wearing protective black helmets and wielding rifles and handguns slowly made their way up the stairs of LA-1 Building at Cal State Long Beach.
Most of the officers aimed their guns forward and upward, but one protected the rear by aiming his gun downward.
When the officers come upon two downed victims and hear several gunshots coming from inside LA-1, they suddenly see someone.
“Let me see your hand, man!” said one of the officers. “Watch your hand!”
It turned out that the man is an innocent student bystander and the officers directed him to go down the stairs. Meanwhile a group of about 10 observers in yellow vests watched everything as they carried their clipboards and took notes.
It’s part of a drill by University Police, in conjunction with the Long Beach Police Department held last Friday. The drill simulated a school shooting in progress, said Duane Watkins, one of the drill’s volunteers and a CSULB employee with Facilities Management.
Members from CSULB agencies, who would be dealing with what happens after a school shooting, observed the drill to get a feel for what would happen in such a scenario, said Toni Beron, a university spokeswoman.
The officers involved in the drill performed well by meeting their training objectives, said Interim Chief of Police Stan Skipworth.
The Long Beach and University Police agencies have worked together in other drills off campus. One purpose of the drill Friday was to give the two police agencies a chance to work together on the CSULB campus.
The drill began at 1:35 p.m. with a University Police patrol car making its way across a courtyard from FA-3 Building to the area between the KJAZZ facility and the building housing Lecture Hall 150 and 151. By 1:45 p.m., and after several loud gunshots, it was all over.
The first group of officers was followed by another group of officers who also had their guns drawn.
CSULB students and employees volunteered to help out by playing the parts of victims and bystanders of a school shooting. Others like Watkins coordinated the area that was blocked off for the drill.
All participants wore protective equipment, which included protective goggles for the victims and bystanders. The person playing the school shooter wore a protective vest, Watkins said.
The guns used in the drill were designed specifically for training, were unable to shoot a real bullet, and were loaded with rounds filled with soap, Skipworth said.
The signs blocking off the drill site confused some who thought the terminology of live fire meant that real bullets would be used.
“We were just talking about how the bullet might ricochet, come out and go through our office,” said Andrew Loyola, a CSULB alumnus and producer for the campus-based KJAZZ.
Skipworth said that wasn’t the intended message of the signs by the University Police and said that language was used because the drill was a live exercise happening in real time.
A drill on the university’s public announcement system was also done on Friday at 11:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Beron said. It was not connected with the school shooting simulated drill.
About 20 people were placed around campus to test the effectiveness of the sound system. The sound drill’s results will be announced sometime this week.