New Mexico State University successfully conducted a multi-agency active shooter training and crisis management exercise Thursday, Aug. 10, on the Las Cruces campus.
The training exercise focused on NMSU’s emergency response plan to an active shooter situation and an incident involving explosive devices found on campus. The NMSU Police Department and NMSU Fire Department staged the exercise to help assure a coordinated, timely and effective response and recovery in the event of a major incident.
The training got underway Thursday afternoon at two locations on campus. First, police responded to an active shooter at the Aggie Health and Wellness Center, 3080 Breland Drive. Officers dispatched to the scene detained a role-playing shooting suspect within two minutes of the 911 call. The suspect had entered the facility under a ruse of seeking medical treatment before opening fire inside and wounding two people.
Five minutes after the shooting, police received reports of suspicious packages found at Rhodes-Garrett-Hamiel Hall, a student-housing facility between the NMSU Bookstore and Corbett Center Student Union. Doña Ana County’s bomb squad responded to the scene, evacuated the building and discovered two fake bombs, which were then disabled over two hours.
“I was very pleased with our response today,” said Justin Dunivan, deputy chief of the NMSU Police Department. “We always try to make sure it’s a positive learning environment, especially when we’re involving all the other agencies. When we come together like this in an active-shooter drill, it shows our strengths and also what we can work on in the future.”
Seven other area first responders and law enforcement agencies participated in the training, including the NMSU Fire Department, Las Cruces Fire Department, Mesilla Marshal’s Office, Las Cruces Police Department, Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police, among others. Nearly three dozen law enforcement personnel participated in the exercise.
NMSU holds regular crisis trainings in compliance with the federal Clery Act, but Thursday’s exercise was the first large-scale law enforcement training since 2019.
To learn more about NMSU’s administrative regulations regarding emergency preparedness and response, visit https://arp.nmsu.edu/16-10/ .
The full article can be seen at https://newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/nmsu-conducts-active-shooter-drill-on-las-cruces-campus/s/ec7b3a88-52e5-4bc4-9d6a-a829681b3f25