Law enforcement drills recently showed officers and area teachers what it might be like if a shooter entered a school.
On Aug. 21, Moody County sheriff deputies, Flandreau police officers and Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe officers practiced responding to the Flandreau high school with guns that looked real but were instead air soft guns, and Moody County ambulance workers helped tend to those who acted the parts of victims. Before the drill took place at 9 a.m., ambulance personnel taught staff methods on how to stop bleeding in potential victims. The training and drill lasted about three hours.
A drill also was conducted previously at the Colman-Egan School.

Superintendent Rick Weber said the training was informative and a great learning experience. Staff had good questions and comments during a debriefing after the drill, he said.
“It gives us something to look at to make sure we’re on top of things,” he said.
Sheriff Troy Wellman said the training was important for law enforcement, as well. With 14 officers at the school, including Wellman and Police Chief Zach Weber, the group realized some areas that could be improved, including communication and access to various parts of the school.
“Our radios didn’t work as well inside the building as we thought,” Wellman said.
Talking with school staff was valuable, too, so that everyone knows what to do in an emergency, he said. The drill helped everyone realize unthinkable events can happen anywhere, and the simulation was real, including the use of a race start gun to similar how real gunfire would sound.
Some of the drill will help teachers if they ever need to go into proper protocol for a shooting or any emergency, Wellman said. Teachers were told, “You’re in charge of the classroom and the students, and their safety depends on you.”