HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall University has held three sessions this week on the appropriate steps to take if an active shooter event happened on campus.
Jim Terry, Marshall’s director of public safety, and Tracy Smith, the university’s director of health and safety, led the series of classes which began on Jan. 23.
Terry said “approximately 100 hundred people” attended the first two sessions, with hundreds more watching the sessions live online.
“It’s not like a fire drill,” Terry said. “They have to make the determination of what actions they are going to take.”
Smith said this is one of multiple the steps the university has taken to prepare for an active shooter scenario.
“We actually developed an online active shooter training back in August,” Smith said. “We just decided to offer a larger group setting open to all campus members.”
Smith said if somone finds themselves in an active shooter situation, the first plan should be getting away from them.
“If you can’t get away, you need to secure yourself in a safe location, turn off the lights, make sure the door is locked and hide,” he said.
Terry said while he hopes a situation like this never happens, the sessions informed people just in case.
“We get so tied up in our daily lives that we don’t think about this,” Terry said.
Those interested in viewing recordings of the sessions can do so at marshall.edu/emergency.