CHESAPEAKE, Va. - More than 100 Chesapeake city employees and first responders held an active shooter drill around the City Hall building on Saturday.
The scenario focused on what would happen if a man with a gun entered City Hall and started firing at people inside. Police officers practiced their response to the building, while city workers rehearsed their exit and escape from the scene.
Firefighters and medics also arrived to treat people serving as victims.
“This exercise today has been over a year in the making. There’s a lot of moving parts went into it. The first responders often do active threat training on an annual basis but involving other city employees on what to do if something like that were to happen is pretty unique," said Chesapeake Police Chief Mark Solesky.
It's a fake scene, but one that's very possible. Just four years ago, 12 died when a gunman opened fire at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center.
“We’ve talked to people to make sure if they have any trauma they’ve experienced in the past, and this exercise is not for them, then we give multiple opportunities to say, ‘you know what, I choose not to participate’ and that’s perfectly fine," said Chesapeake City Manager Chris Price.
The active shooter training shut down many of the streets surrounding Chesapeake's administrative buildings.
It's just the first of several days of drills. The city says Monday and Tuesday will focus on response from Chesapeake's Emergency Operations Center, including how to keep city services running in the event of a mass casualty incident at City Hall.
