Emergency crews work through crisis drills at Scott Community College
Two women crouched under the circulation desk at Scott Community College-Belmont Campus on Sunday, listening closely as footsteps entered the library. Was help at hand — or were they about to face hostile gunfire?
One of the women cried out — and the footsteps, belonging to the Emergency Services Team from the Scott County Sheriff’s Department, turned in their direction. In a few minutes both women were escorted out of the library and toward freedom.
Fortunately, the situation was a practice scenario and not a real situation.
“You want to be a little irate. Upset. This is a traumatic event,” Deputy Chad Cribb instructed the “actors” before the sweep through the sprawling building and grounds began.
The Emergency Services Team practiced how it would respond if a shooting or hostage situation occurred at the Bettendorf community college. Explorers from Bettendorf Police Department Post 9611 took the roles of the shooters and victims, trying to simulate as closely as possible the reactions people would have during a real event.
In that case, emotions would run high and tense as law enforcement worked to get the situation under control, said Lt. Bryce Schmidt, of the sheriff’s department.
Team members attend basic tactical training in the Quad-Cities and participate in ongoing training and crisis scenarios to keep their skills honed. Their specialties range from snipers and negotiators to tactical officers and chemical munitions specialists.
Sunday’s scenario erupted as an active shooting where someone enters the school and escalated into a hostage situation.
“Usually an active shooter situation is over in a few minutes,” Schmidt said. “They’re going to shoot as many people as possible and (possibly) themselves.”
And that’s a situation people taking part in the training exercise hope never happens at Scott Community College or any school in the Quad-City area, he said. But unfortunately the lessons of Northern Illinois University’s Valentine Day shooting point to a chilling reality. Violence happens.
In a real-life hostage case, for example, Bettendorf and Davenport’s tactical teams also would respond to the scene to help contain the situation as quickly as possible, Schmidt said.
Out in the hallway, deputies analyzed the hostage situation and waited, “weapons” in hand, as a crisis negotiator negotiated the release of six or seven people. The two suspects finally surrendered, coming out with hands held over their heads and lying down on the ground as directed.
Chris Hebbel, an Explorer, played the part of a hostage injured in the leg by the hostage takers.
“I came out on my hands and dragging my legs and then they patted me down, he said.
In an actual scenario, law enforcement has to determine who the real victims are, he said.
“They don’t know if I’m a hostage for sure. I could be a hostage taker, and they wouldn’t know,” he said.
Hebbel just graduated from Scott Community College and plans to continue his studies in law enforcement and become a drug enforcement agent.
The team appreciates having the opportunity to train at local schools, Schmidt said. Before the Columbine, Colo., shootings in 1999, school shootings didn’t seem that large a threat.
“It’s nice to have the schools allow us to come in. It helps us develop where our strengths and weaknesses are,” he said. “The bottom line is you always walk out of training saying we did this really well. This is what we need to work on.”
He added, “We certainly hope it never happens here.”
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