Shootout simulation | As if it were true

The quartet of policemen enters the Cégep and comes upon a scene of horror: wounded everywhere, blood, screams, detonations. Climbing the interior staircase, the officers are almost jostled by panicked students fleeing an active shooter. Everything is false, but the simulation is so realistic that we believe it. The tension is palpable.

The Press was able to attend from the inside a gigantic training organized by the Laval police on May 25. An opportunity to rehearse the response to a potential killing in a public establishment and some new intervention tactics.

The appointment was given around 8 p.m., at Montmorency College, when most of the students and teachers had left the premises. A group of 45 graduates in police techniques from Ahuntsic College were on hand to play the victims, with make-up and prostheses simulating various injuries.

“The goal in this is to save lives. Again today, we had a call for a school. Fortunately, it was unfounded. But the day it will be real, we want Laval to be as well prepared as possible,” explained Lieutenant Dany Ménard, from the Tactical Intervention Group, to the participants before the exercise.

Lieutenant Dany Ménard suggests to the patrollers who will be dispatched inside the CEGEP to do a short jog before entering, in order to increase their heart rate to simulate the state in which they will be if they intervene during a true event of its kind.

“A situation like that brings a lot of excitement and a high level of stress,” warns Inspector Normand Clavet. The officer knows what he’s talking about. Before moving to the Laval police, he was with the Montreal police, at the time of the dramas of Dawson College in 2006 (19 injured and 2 dead, including the shooter) and Concordia University in 1992 (4 dead and 1 injured).

No time to wait

Today, the scenario of the simulation resembles those killings that too often make the headlines: a man enters the CEGEP and opens fire on several victims while moving through the building. The patrollers dispatched to the scene with weapons loaded with blanks must neutralize the threat by minimizing the losses as much as possible.

Police services have changed their approach to this type of event over the decades. During the Polytechnique massacre in 1989 (14 injured and 15 dead, including the shooter), the police had established a security perimeter around the establishment and waited for the arrival of the SWAT. Long minutes during which the suspect continued his carnage. Today, the policies are clear: no question of waiting. The first police officers to arrive must rush towards the threat.

When they arrive at the cégep, the two groups of four patrollers participating in the simulation enter through two different entrances and progress in close formation among the wounded. One of the agents carries a long gun for more firepower. A member of the group always covers the rear, to avoid being caught in the rear.

Gunshots echo through the hallways. Suddenly, one of the trainers supervising the practice decides to turn up the heat. “Go! Go! Go! There are people dying right now! he yells in the ears of the patrollers. They hurry.

flooded with calls

Meanwhile, dispatchers from the 911 central in Laval who are also taking part in the exercise are inundated with calls. Students who play the victims have received cards with scenarios that they must recite to the attendant who takes their call.

Are there one or two shooters on site? Is the suspect’s sweater orange or yellow? As in real life, perceptions vary between callers, and dispatchers must keep a cool head to guide the work of the police in the field live.

“It’s important for the dispatcher to take control of the call, to be solid and to show that he is there to help. The citizen calling is in panic. He doesn’t know what to say. We can’t just let him talk, because the flood of calls is unimaginable and we have to be able to answer everyone,” explains Marja Massaad, operations coordinator for 911 Laval.

Suddenly, a call stands out: it is the suspect himself who dialed 911. The dispatcher who answers him remains calm and tries to keep him on the line, even if he shows little talkative.

The police positioned themselves at the door of the classroom where he took refuge. Agents are trying to establish contact with him. “Get out with your hands up, it’ll be fine,” they shout. They try to find out if he has any hostages with him. The suspect denies, but a doubt persists.

A call is made to bring in a shield, an expert negotiator and the Tactical Intervention Group. On the radio waves, however, a supervisor warns the patrollers: it is possible that civilians are in the class with the shooter. Maybe they won’t have time to wait for reinforcements.

“If you hear gunshots, it’s going to be a go. Immediate intervention,” they are told.

New methods of healing

At the same time, paramedic ambulance technicians from the Urgences-santé Tactical Medical Intervention Group (GIMT), dressed in bulletproof vests and helmets, entered the CEGEP. One is positioned near the class where the shooter has taken refuge, ready to intervene. The presence of this team in the “hot zone” while the shooter is still keeping the police on edge is a recent innovation in the tactics of the emergency services of several large cities.

“These are new methods. We’re going to let in a few teams of police and then the GIMT will join in the back. We don’t want them to find themselves running after the threat. They will always move under the protection of the police and refer to them for tactical travel,” adds Jonathan Bilodeau, commander of specialized teams for Urgences-santé.

The simulation takes another turn when shots ring out in the room where the suspect has taken refuge. The police rush in, and discover that the armed man is keeping a young woman hostage. They have time to fire and reach the suspect, who collapses on the ground. “We just shot the suspect,” they say on the air while handcuffing him.

At the entrance to the classroom, the paramedic rushes to help the injured. “Are you guys ready for me to come home?” he shouts, reaching for his first aid kit.

It is almost midnight when the scenario ends. Already, the organizers are taking notes for the next training session.

“It’s very complex to coordinate all the partners, but in an ideal world, we would do training like that once a year. We could even take it to another level, by including our investigation people,” illustrates Inspector Normand Clavet.

“It’s like any discipline. The more we practice, the more we will be able to react quickly by following the right approach,” he concludes.