BAKERSFIELD, CA - Local law enforcement surrounded Bakersfield College in the air and on the ground Thursday. It was all part of a crisis exercise to prepare law enforcement for a major incident like an active shooter.
"Those can happen anywhere, anytime, at any school and we need to be prepared for those," said Sgt. Joe Grubbs, Bakersfield Police Department.
The drill was treated as a real life incident. Several agencies including the BPD, Kern County Sheriff's Department, Kern County Bomb Squad and SWAT all worked together to contain the shooter.
"With all the agencies working together, we've had several meetings to come together. We didn't plan the expected through it all. A lot of this was unplanned so that we would react," said Anthony Galagaza, Bakersfield Fire Department.
"So that the personnel involved in the training scenario could get the type of training that they would need in case a large scale event like this does occur. Hopefully it doesn't, but we want to be prepared just in case it does," said Ray Pruitt, Kern County Sheriff's Department.
More than 300 personnel from eleven agencies responded to different scenarios as the exercise unfolded. Police in protective gear stood behind trees, snipers in camouflage hid behind rocks and bushes and surrounded the Language Arts building where there were reports of a hostage. The incident began with a simulated explosion on a GET Bus near the campus.
Aside from law enforcement and emergency responders, mental health professionals were also on the scene to help students.
"Those can happen anywhere, anytime, at any school and we need to be prepared for those," said Sgt. Joe Grubbs, Bakersfield Police Department.
The drill was treated as a real life incident. Several agencies including the BPD, Kern County Sheriff's Department, Kern County Bomb Squad and SWAT all worked together to contain the shooter.
"With all the agencies working together, we've had several meetings to come together. We didn't plan the expected through it all. A lot of this was unplanned so that we would react," said Anthony Galagaza, Bakersfield Fire Department.
"So that the personnel involved in the training scenario could get the type of training that they would need in case a large scale event like this does occur. Hopefully it doesn't, but we want to be prepared just in case it does," said Ray Pruitt, Kern County Sheriff's Department.
More than 300 personnel from eleven agencies responded to different scenarios as the exercise unfolded. Police in protective gear stood behind trees, snipers in camouflage hid behind rocks and bushes and surrounded the Language Arts building where there were reports of a hostage. The incident began with a simulated explosion on a GET Bus near the campus.
Aside from law enforcement and emergency responders, mental health professionals were also on the scene to help students.