Active-shooter-survival class popular

More than 1,000 people in Kootenai County have been trained to survive a mass shooting and interest remains so intense that the sheriff’s office is offering more local classes.

The first two classes, scheduled for Aug. 27 and Sept. 24, have already filled, said Gary Shults, the department’s community resources officer. He’s got a waiting list of people who want to take the two-hour training and anticipates teaching the class once a month for the foreseeable future.

A rash of shootings across the United States this summer heightened people’s awareness of gun violence, Shults said. The June 12 shooting at an Orlando nightclub, where 49 people were killed, is one of 136 mass shootings in the country this year, according to CNN.com, which defines mass shootings as events where four or more people are hurt or killed.

“All you’re reading in the news now are stories about ‘active shooters,’” Shults said. While the likelihood of being the victim of a mass shooting is low, people “want to be able to do the right thing and they want to survive” if they ever find themselves in that situation, he said.

The class curriculum was developed at Texas State University with state and federal funding. Originally for law enforcement officers, ALERRT (Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training) now has training materials for civilians, too.

The Sheriff’s Office began offering ALERRT classes to schools and businesses about nine months ago, training more than 1,000 local residents. After members of the public started asking about the training, the department decided to make the class available to the general public/Becky Kramer, SR. More here (subscription).