Police Take Part in Active-Shooter Drill at South Fayette High School

Dozens of police officers from across the area, including Collier Township and Bridgeville, took part in an active shooter training exercise Wednesday at South Fayette High School. 

WTAE-TV reported the drill was designed "look and feel like a real emergency" by simulating how police would react if a gunman entered a high school.

“You can never be completely prepared for every situation, but we are trying to do what we can to be familiar with the school and keep the officers fresh with their training,” South Fayette Township patrolman John Leininger told WTAE-TV.

The training, which included officers from CharWest Council of Governments was similar to an active shooter drill performed by many area police departments at Chartiers Valley High School last January, and at Robert Morris University in July 2011. Other police departments that participated in Wednesday's drill included Carnegie, Moon Township and Robinson.

The Post Gazette reports the drill had been planned prior to the December shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that claimed 26 lives.

"We looked at Connecticut to see what they did right, and what they did wrong, and we adapt our training to that,” South Fayette Police Chief Louis Volle told WTAE-TV in an interview.

Students were not on campus at the the time of the day-long training exercise, due to winter break, according to the Post-Gazette.

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