Inside The Tech School's Active Shooter Drill

It was only a drill, but it was meant to seem as real as possible.

A report of shots fired at Bucks County Technical High School crackled across the police radio’s training channel Wednesday just past 9:45 a.m.

Two Bristol Township police vehicles quickly pulled up and officers rushed into the building along Wistar Road. They cleared the lobby and then heard a series of gunshots in quick succession in the distance. The noise echoed through the hallways.

With rifles drawn, they made their way through the locker-lined hallways and to the automotive bay where the officers engaged the mock shooter, hitting him. They then handcuffed him and began checking for more threats.

Additional officers arrived and began clearing classrooms and escorting medics and firefighters to triage and tend to mock victims covered in theatrical blood.

As more police, medics, and firefighters arrived, efforts to clear the rest of the school, which was closed for a teacher in-service day, got underway. As they did, a call of a suspicious female with an object in her hand were relayed by a dispatcher as part of the drill.

And then a volley of gunshots rang out. Officers got in formation and pushed forward, attempting to determine where they were coming from.

The officers then heard the shots coming from a second-floor classroom.

They rushed up the stairs, found more mock victims – some playing deceased – and engaged the second mock suspect, taking her into custody.

The drill was large and took months of planning from the technical high school and several emergency service agencies.

Ryan Gregory, the technical high school’s assistant principal and dean of students, helped organize the drill. He said the training is invaluable for emergency responders and school staff.

Gregory, a former federal police officer, told LevittownNow.com one benefit of the drill is that it not only involved school authorities and police, but crews from the Bucks County Rescue Squad, Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad, Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad, Bristol Township Fire Rescue, and Levittown Fire Company No. 2. All are agencies who would respond to an emergency at the school.

“The benefit of this type drill is to have a unified and collaborative response to a threat. It also provides an opportunity to experience what might happen in a real world scenario,” he said.

Following the drill, those involved held a debriefing to go over what happened.

“The lessons learned from today is there is never enough training when it comes to active shooter drills and the safety of our communities children. Active shooter responses are truly a team effort and we have to work as a team for success,” Bristol Township police Sgt. C.J. Winik said.

Winik didn’t discuss what exactly his department saw as areas needing improvement for security reasons.

Gregory said the school will continue to improve their safety plans.

“The school will review video footage, speak with our staff and responders to see what went well and what areas of improvement there may be,” he stated.

Bristol Township police Sgt. Mark Titus thanked the technical high school for their efforts to hold the event and allowing officers to train in the school over the summer.

Kevin Dippolito, the chief of Bristol Township Fire Rescue and the township’s emergency management director, said the drill allowed the various agencies to “practice their respective operational plans and make adjustments where needed.”

Dippolito said firefighters cross-trained as EMTs got to work during the drill assisting ambulance squads treat and transport patients, while firefighters who were not EMTs helped moved the injured to triage areas or to ambulances.

Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad Chief Joel Rutkowski said the training was key for responders.

“This training with the other emergency service disciplines is essential to ensure the best possible outcome in these unfortunate events,” he said.

One aspect of the drill was to reunite students with parents at a safe location near the campus.

Gregory said that part of the drill was important and focused on what happens after the threats were neutralized.

Area schools hold training exercises for active shooters and other emergencies on a regular basis, but Wednesday’s event was among the area’s largest in recent years.