Greensboro police get active shooter training

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — How would you respond to an active shooter? For the Greensboro Police Department, the answer is simple: go.

But training your brain and your body to respond that way is not as easy, which is why all 600 officers train for active shooter situations. FOX8's Sarah Winkelmann got a firsthand look at their new force-on-force training, known as Sims.

The first stop of the day was in the classroom to listen to the instructor and take some notes about the different tactics. But sitting there with a notebook is a lot different than putting it into practice.

The officers say the only real way to test out these stressful situations is to put themselves in a stressful situation.

On Wednesday's training, the first one was the traditional approach of a four-officer team where everyone scans in different directions.

"You got to go. You got to go. Make a decision ... Get through the door," said the officers to a team of reporters in the exercise.

Once the shooter was down, it was time to debrief with the instructors.

"You work your way down the hallway. What do you hear when you get down the hallway? Screaming. We hear screaming. We want to move towards that screaming," Sgt. Jon Matthews said.

Four officers are ideal. More recently, the new approach is as soon as you get there, you go, even if you are alone. Smaller teams are more realistic for the officers, which is why two-person teams were the next scenario.

For Sarah, the stress was immediate, and there was no time to think. When Sarah went closer to the shooter, she was being hit with fake bullets made of wax and plastic.

"They were just so far away. I think that's what was so scary ... They were so far, and I had no idea. There was so much space and no idea what to do," Sarah said.

In the exercise, dozens of rounds were used in a matter of seconds.

"Every time you do that, every round you send, you are fully legally liable for that round where it terminates," Captain Kory Flowers said.

Officers have a matter of seconds to decide what is right.

During training, Matthews reminds officers to go into a building with an active shooter as if their loved one is inside because whoever is inside, is someone's loved one.

But even for officers, this can be stressful, so that is why training is crucial, so it becomes muscle memory. Once inside, their one objective is to stop the killing and stop the dying.