South Shore: Towns team up to hold “active shooter” drills at schools

Two South Shore towns are holding cooperative drills at their elementary schools to train to respond to a community’s worst nightmare: a shooter loose in a school.

Plympton Police Chief Patrick Dillon says they worked with Carver Police to hold an “active shooter” at Carver Elementary School Friday from 9am-noon, and are planning one in Plympton next week.

Students won’t be there during the drills, but staff will. Chief Dillon says it gives teachers a chance to see what a police response would look like should a shooter enter the school, and it gives police from each town a chance to get familiar with the layout of the other’s schools, in case they need help responding.

Chief Dillon says many of his officers in Plympton did active shooter training about five or six years ago, and the recent attack at the Sandy Hook Elementary School spurred them to brush up on their response tactics.

Plympton’s Dennett Elementary school will be holding its drill on Tuesday, Jan 22, from 9a.m.-12:00p.m. Chief Dillon says that beyond the drills, his officers will be doing another full-blown training session this summer.

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