Survival tactics taught during active shooter training course

CAPE CORAL, Fla.- School educators and businesses owners were among those who participated in an active shooter training course on Wednesday provided by the Cape Coral Police Department and ALICE Training Institute.

“You’d be amazed at the stuff we were using. People were taking off their belts to secure the door, we were grabbing desks and chairs and piling them up against the door,” said instructor Scott Tirollo.

The institute’s goal is to teach people how to handle a dangerous situation before law enforcement arrives.

“History tells us that these active shooting events are over in 3 to 5 minutes, the average response for law enforcement is 6 to 7 minutes,” said George Hunter, a national trainer with the ALICE Insitute.

“It’s mostly taking action, that’s the most important thing and that’s what we’re really learning here, the worst thing you can do is nothing at all,” said Stephen Scrobe with CCPD. “There is an essential need to act in a situation like this and the more we teach people good decision making skills, and that they can act and make a decision to save themselves, the better off they will be.”

Scott Baier, a school administrator at Royal Palm Academy in Naples, says it’s important teachers understand what to do in an active shooter situation.

“When you’re getting shot with an airsoft gun, it kind of makes you step back and say, ‘what if this was the real thing?'” said Baier. “When educators start to panic, then the kids panic. So if we give teachers options, if we give them a sense of empowerment, I think it goes a long way.”

At the end of the course, groups made a plan on how they will spread their new survival tactics to people they know.

“Each kid, each teacher I share this with is going to be lighting one little candle and maybe together we can all make a difference together,” Baier said.

Cape Coral police say the public can expect more training programs like this in the future.

“It’s excellent that we’re finally incorporating it to the point where we can actually start to help our community a little more,” Scrobe said.