Though staff and students were away for spring break, Trailside Elementary was bustling Tuesday. Starting at noon, around 30 volunteer actors began taking their places throughout the halls and classrooms, ready to play roles in an active shooter drill.
Park City Police Department, Summit County Sheriff’s Office, Park City Fire District and Utah Highway Patrol members swarmed the school a few hours later as the fire alarm blared.
Park City Police Lt. Danielle Snelson said the training took months of planning and coordination — but the effort is worth it.
“These live-scale exercises give the officers critical skills and mental conditioning to respond in worst-case scenario situations, such as an active shooter in an elementary school,” she said.
The training began with a fake 911 call reporting an active shooter in the building. Then police and sheriff’s office deputies strap on gear and head to the school, sirens sounding, before running to the school’s entrance, guns in hand.
“Officers are trained to go towards the threat in a shots-fired situation,” Snelson said. “They find the threat and they eliminate the threat to prevent students from being further injured or potentially killed.”
Some officers also sent drones into the building to assess the pretend emergency.
Once the area was deemed safe, the fire district arrived on scene to assess injuries. That’s where the actors come in.
Law enforcement officers helped the “injured” citizens outside so firefighters could conduct triage — assessing each patient to determine who most urgently needed treatment.
Every role player had a script and a colorful band to indicate their injury. Some actors screamed as they were led outside or put on a gurney, aiming to give the first responders a realistic experience.
An AirMed helicopter from the University of Utah Hospital also made an appearance to practice transporting people with serious injuries.
Snelson said local law enforcement and the fire district try to train like this at least once a year. She said the groups often collaborate with the Park City School District since that’s where officers would respond in real life.
“There's classrooms, there's pictures on the walls. It makes it a little more realistic for officers, so that they can have that mental headspace to be able to do that accordingly,” Snelson said.
Over 30 first responders participated in the hours-long training, going through the process twice to switch roles and make the most of the exercise.
