🎙 📷 Hays police, local agencies train for active shooter response
Posted Jul 17, 2025 10:01 AM
Officers breach a classroom during an active shooter training exercise at Roosevelt Elementary School on Wednesday. In this scenario, an active shooter has been firing inside a classroom, and officers have just shot the perpetrator (right). Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post
By TONY GUERRERO Hays Post
The Hays Police Department conducted a multi-day active shooter training to prepare officers for high-stress situations.
On Tuesday, Hays police officers were at the permanently closed AMC movie theater, 2918 Vine St. On Wednesday, multiple agencies trained at Roosevelt Elementary, 2000 MacArthur Road. Hays police officers will be training at the AMC theater again today.
Det. David Gillian is leading the training sessions and said each setting offers different obstacles and challenges that responding officers may encounter.
Officers prepare to breach a classroom with a suspected active shooter inside during training Wednesday at Roosevelt Elementary School. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays PostOfficers begin to breach a classroom during active shooter training on Wednesday. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays PostAn actor portrays an active shooter as area law enforcement officers enter a classroom Wednesday at Roosevelt Elementary School. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays PostOfficers respond to shots being fired during an active shooter training Wednesday at Roosevelt Elementary School. Officers used blank rounds to engage actors in multiple scenarios. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays PostOfficers subdue an active shooter during a training exercise on Wednesday at Roosevelt Elementary School as actors portray victims lying in a hallway. A training officer in a yellow vest at left observes. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post
"The main objective is to ensure that officers are appropriately trained and know how to appropriately respond to an active shooter event," Gillian said.
Gillian told the officers on Wednesday as they debriefed after running a scenario, "We pray that this doesn't happen."
The Hays Police Department worked alongside the city of Ellis Police Department, Victoria Police Department, Fort Hays State University Police, the Ellis County Sheriff's Office and the Department of Wildlife and Parks.
"These events are rapidly evolving. They offer challenges in themselves for one agency to go to, and now you start compiling all the different agencies within Ellis County that would likely respond to, you've got a lot of different moving parts," Gillian said. "It's crucial to train in that type of environment."
School staff play the role of victims in an active shooter training on Wednesday at Roosevelt Elementary School. The actors were asked to cry out to simulate the chaos that officers would face during a real active shooter incident. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays PostAn officer applies a tourniquet to the leg of a wounded actor during active shooter training on Wednesday at Roosevelt Elementary School. Multiple law enforcement agencies from the area participated in the training. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays PostJess Reling, assistant to the superintendent, portrays a victim during active shooter training. Officers were charged with triaging and trying to evacuate victims during the scenarios. Some actors portrayed deceased individuals, and dummies were used to represent children. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays PostAn officer evacuates an injured victim as training officers observe during active shooter training Wednesday. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post
Gillian said the training consisted of firing blanks and included actors, some of whom were school staff members.
This is the second year of multi-agency training, following last year's training at Wilson Elementary School.
An officer helps check a room for additional threats during active shooter training on Wednesday. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays PostA Hays police officer handcuffs a perpetrator as a training officer looks on during an active shooter drill Wednesday at Roosevelt Elementary School. Actors portray injured victims in the background. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays PostOfficers debrief after running an active shooter scenario Wednesday at Roosevelt Elementary School. Officers from the Hays Police Department, Ellis Police Department, Victoria Police Department, Fort Hays State University Police, the Ellis County Sheriff's Office and the Department of Wildlife and Parks participated in the training Wednesday. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post
