Fort Worth Police Department held an active shooter training exercise at Hulen Mall on Sunday.
“This is as close as to the real thing,” said Fort Worth spokesperson Officer Buddy Calzada, per WFAA.
The simulation took place from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Trainees focused on how to incapacitate a shooter in a setting like a mall. Someone would pose as the shooter while other officers acted as civilians.
“This training exercise was held for our Patrol officers a Hulen Mall,” Calzada told The Dallas Express. “We can share with you that the training was a valuable resource to educate our officers in communication and training.”
Officers also practiced how to park in active shooter situations to make sure they do not block entrances and exits that could be used for medics to enter or civilians to evacuate.
Calzada explained to WFAA that communication between officers was also a key priority of the exercise, as officers must be able to clearly communicate details with each other over the radio even when their “blood pressure is high.”
“Everything is going to be high-level and high-stress, if that kind of a situation breaks out,” he said. “What we want to do is make those officers as calm as they can, but most important, as prepared as they can be.”
Officer Jimmy Pollanzi added that “there is no playbook” in law enforcement.
“Every situation, every call is different,” he said. “So for us to prepare ourselves mentally and physically, we will be that much better to be able to effectively do our job and to make sure that we have a safe city.”
This exercise was held nearly five months after the tragic mass shooting at an Allen mall that claimed eight lives, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Furthermore, Fort Worth police responded to a bomb threat at Hulen Mall in July, in which civilians were evacuated, but no bomb was actually found.