Choctaw County teachers get active shooter response training

CHOCTAW COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Teachers at area schools have been preparing for the upcoming school year, but in Choctaw County the staff is putting in a little extra time.

You may remember a few months ago when several social media posts and rumors threatened school shootings in the Golden Triangle, including Choctaw County.

While nothing ever came of those situations, the feeling of adrenaline isn’t easy to forget.

With another school year on the horizon, Choctaw County teachers and staff want to be ready if an active shooting threat is made and actually happens.

In a joint effort between Ackerman Police and the Choctaw County Sheriff’s Department, Choctaw County teachers and staff are being trained to respond to an active shooter situation.

“The way these shooter situations have been going on in schools over the past year, we’ve had a lot more, more and more every month,” said Ackerman Police Chief, Tim Cook.

Choctaw County schools want to be ready if and when they’re faced with an active shooter.

“Most of the incidents occur with populations of 50,000 or less, so I mean it could happen anywhere,” Cook said.

“People believe that can’t happen, and that’s what we want to get out of your mind because it could happen here just as well as any other big city in the country,” said Choctaw County Deputy, Bradley Fancher.

The district asked us not to say exactly what kind of training has been going on, but Fancher says it’s no walk in the park.

“We’re trying to put a little pressure on them, see how you’re going to react if you hear a gunshot, because it changes everybody’s idea about what they’re going to do, and just see how they react,” Fancher said. “We tell them, there’s no right or wrong way. See how you react, we’ll discuss it, and try to make changes.”

Fancher was the resource officer at Choctaw County High School when the scare of a gun on campus was made in February, and knows how important training like this can be.

“It was hectic,” Fancher described, remembering how one rumor can change the atmosphere of an entire school. “It was pretty scary around here. Parents find out, and they want to make sure their children are OK, which is understandable. So we needed to do this to prepare in case something like this happens again.”

So far, training seems to be taking pretty well, so if an active shooter decides to target Choctaw County staff and teachers will have a plan to respond.