Jackson Police Say Columbine Shooting Prepared Them for Liberty Tech Shooting
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DOWNTOWN JACKSON, Tenn. — Responding to a mass shooting was the topic of Jackson Police Monday afternoon. In light of last week’s school shooting at Liberty Tech, law enforcement gathered to discuss what they will do if another school shooting happens in their city. Jackson police said they talked about how employees and students responded during the aftermath of the shooting. They identified what went as planned and areas that need improvement. Jackson police said their response went as smooth as possible to last Thursday’s school shooting at Liberty Tech where they say a 16-year-old shot a fellow student in the thigh. “I thought it went well. We had the suspect in custody in under 35 minutes,” Captain Steve Overton said. He said they started active shooter training 15 years ago, before many other departments across the country. “After the Columbine shooting we started teaching all of our officers on active shooters, how to respond to an active shooter,” Capt. Overton said. Capt. Overton was promoted soon after the program launched and passed the torch down to Lieutenant Shane Beaver, who said the program constantly evolves. “Unfortunately in law enforcement we learn from, I don’t like to call them mistakes, but incidents,” Lt. Beaver said. Capt. Overton said they discussed what went right and wrong during the incident and learned what they can do better in the future, including better communication among the responding agencies: Jackson Police Department, Tennessee Highway Patrol, and Madison County Sheriff’s Department. “When one of their officers arrive on scene we’ll pair them up with one of our officers,” Capt. Overton said. Even though Jackson police said they are proud of how they responded, officers can expect more training. “When we do have a situation like we had at Liberty, it becomes second nature. They don’t have to think about what they’re gonna do, they automatically know what to do,” he said. Lt. Beaver said when the shooting happened on Thursday, he was in the middle of active shooter training with new officers. Jackson police said they plan to follow up soon with Tennessee Highway Patrol and Madison County Sheriff’s Department about Thursday’s shooting.
