BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.–It was emotional. It was loud. It provided life-saving information, and it was timely.
The Berkeley County School District, along with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office and Goose Creek Police Department, offered a training for teachers and administrators Friday related to active shooter situations. The training was centered around a gunfire demonstration intended to better educate teachers on the various sounds of gunfire.
Training sessions were held throughout the day at Cane Bay Elementary School with hundreds of teachers and administrators attending.
This training is aimed at helping administrators and teachers learn to recognize the sound of gunfire inside of a school and will expound upon the actions they can take to keep their students and themselves safe.
“Two years ago, during this same district training event, we brought in members from the FBI to conduct an Active Shooter/Gunfire Training session for teachers and administrators,” said BCSD Safety and Security Coordinator Tim Knight.
Images from this week’s tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida were still fresh on the minds of those in attendance. Though timely, the Florida shooting did not prompt this training, according to representatives with the Berkeley County School District. It was months in the making, following a similar training offered to BCSD employees by the FBI two years ago.
Guns used in the training and demonstration are the weapons statistics show to be more frequently used in active shooter situations. Law enforcement officers fired guns from three locations in the school as educators stood in a crowded classroom and listened. After two shots from each gun, there was a debrief during which critical information was shared.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway for most in attendance was learning to distinguish between gunfire and a locker being slammed or a book dropped in the hallway.
The BCSD Conference is a large-scale training event for teachers and administrators across the district. Students will not be in school that day as this will be a “teacher workday”.
Knight added, “As safety and security is our number one priority at BCSD, we will continue to proactively expand safety procedures and offer advanced training for our staff to ensure the safety of our students. We understand that parents trust us every day with their most precious assets, their children, and we do not take the responsibility of their safety lightly.”
Friday’s training demonstration comes just two days after suspected shooter, Nikolas Cruz, killed 17 students at a Florida high school Wednesday afternoon.
