ORLANDO, Fla. – Staff at one building on the campus of the University of Central Florida were surprised by an "active shooting" emergency drill on Wednesday.
Police armed with rifles stormed into the building, where a pretend gunman had "opened fire," shooting volunteers who acted like they had been wounded.
The officers were supposed to find the gunman and stop the shooting, while fire paramedics were tasked with helping the injured.
"What we're finding out from these events around the world and the country is we need to stop the killing, but we also need to stop the dying," said Curt Myhre, a training officer for the UCF police department. "The people that are inside that building and are injured need attention faster than we've been able to establish it in the past."
To get that help inside the building, paramedics wear heavy helmets and bulletproof vests, and they move in with police armed with high powered rifles. This way, paramedics were able to be protected while helping some of the injured in this simulation.
"It's a new technique for us," Myhre said. "We're literally writing policy as we go."
Campus, county and city police and fire crews all took part in the drill.