Allen’s police and fire departments staged a large-scale active-shooter drill on Thursday.
The exercise comes nearly three years after the May 6, 2023, mass shooting at Allen Premium Outlets. Eight people died, and seven others suffered injuries before an Allen police officer stopped the gunman.
First responders used the trauma from that day to inform the joint training held in a theater at Cinemark Allen, near Ridgeview Drive and Watters Road. Screams for help echoed outside as officers rushed inside. Actors posed as wounded victims crying out while a movie played on screen, creating deliberate chaos.
“That just makes them better going into a real scenario,” said Lt. Darrin Whitman of the Allen Police Department, CBS News Texas reported.
Whitman said the drill forced officers to navigate noise, confusion, and split-second decisions like those at the mall.
The site sat only a few miles from the outlets. One key challenge then, as in many mass-casualty incidents, involved delivering medical aid before fully securing the scene. Assistant Fire Chief Danny Williams said that the lesson reshaped preparations.
“We can’t have personnel just running in when it’s not safe,” Williams said, per CBS. “We started working with our fire department personnel to get them protective gear – vests, helmets, tactical gear – to go into what’s called a warm zone.”
Joint exercises also strengthened ties between agencies.
“It’s great having a relationship with them,” one officer said, CBS reported. “We show up, and we already know them — it goes miles into our training.”
Police and fire officials credit such preparation with saving everyone who could be saved during the 2023 shooting.
The drill closed nearby streets and incorporated realistic sights and sounds to heighten the sense of urgency.
“Every second counts,” Williams said. “If we wait until a scene is fully secured – a cold zone – some patients simply aren’t going to survive.”
Ahead of another anniversary, Allen first responders pledge to keep learning and adapting to face any future threat.
