Biola University Conducts Full-Scale Active Shooter Exercise – Video
By: Robin Hattersley
With so many active shooter attacks happening in America, our nation’s institutions of higher education must prepare for the possibility that a mass shooting could happen on their campus.
That’s why Biola University partnered with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD), as well as other local first responders, to conduct a full-scale active shooter exercise. In the exercise, which took place February 28 on Biola’s campus, numerous Biola officers and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies participated, along with the local fire department, campus staff members, medical personnel, and students to test how the school and local first responders would respond to a mass shooting.
I was there, along with several other media organizations, to witness the event, and some of the video and photos I took during the exercise are at the end of this video. (Note: If you are listening to the podcast version of this right now, you might want to watch the video version on either CampusSafetyMagazine.com or YouTube so you can see the video and photos I took.)
Before the exercise took place, however, I spoke with Biola University Provost and Senior Vice President Matthew Hall. I asked him why senior university administrators like him support full-scale active shooter exercises on their campuses. 1:39 I then asked him how involved he and other administrators were in setting up the exercise, and why it’s so important for his school to conduct this type of exercise. 2:47
I then spoke with Biola Associate Vice President and Chief of Campus Safety John Ojeisekhoba Sr. and asked how his nonsworn department’s involvement in active shooter response is different from sworn police officer responses to this type of situation. 4:41 I then asked about the specific duties of his nonsworn officers during an active shooter situation. 6:05
After the interviews, I show some of the photos and video I took of the exercise (10:11). Please note that some of the images in the video that follows may be disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.
To watch the video on YouTube, click here or listen on the go on Apple or Spotify.
Article reprinted with permission from Campus Safety Magazine (http://www.campussafetymagazine.com/). To sign up for their eNewsletter, visit https://www.campussafetymagazine.com/newsletter-subscription/
