Law enforcement talk training changes following fatal mass attacks

JACKSON, Tenn.– Local law enforcement officers said attacks like the most recent on the campus of the Ohio State University has changed how officers are trained.

Henderson County Deputy, Anthony Woodfin is a training programs coordinator for the department. He said he is seeing a lot more agencies encourage specialized training sessions for active shooters and mass attacks.

Woodfin said the deadly attacks are a relatively new trend, “We didn’t see this kind of thing and when the terrorist attacks started happening we started seeing more.”

Officials said there have been nearly 200 mass shootings in the United States since the turn of the century.

Investigator Woodfin said with his decades of experience in law enforcement, the seemingly rise in popularity for mass attacks has impacted how some officers are armed. “You see a lot more agencies carrying rifles,” he said. Adding in some situations officers will even be out numbered weapons wise compared to alleged attackers.

Woodfin encourages citizens to remember three words if they find themselves in a similar attack situation, flight, fight or barricade.