Active shooter exercise tests Dyess response

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jonathan Schnaible, left, and Tech. Sgt. Leo Williams, right, 7th Security Forces Squadron, administer first aid to a casualty during an active shooter exercise Feb. 9, 2012, at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. The security forces members were responding in the aftermath of an active shooter exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Ryan Kruse/Released)

Active shooter exercise tests Dyess response

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jonathan Schnaible, 7th Security Forces, awaits further instructions from headquarters during an active shooter exercise Feb. 9, 2012, at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. The scenario involved a disgruntled airman targeting coworkers. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Ryan Kruse/Released)

Active shooter exercise tests Dyess response

Published Feb. 10, 2012
By Tech. Sgt. Ryan Kruse
7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- An airman from the 7th Contracting Squadron discovered he was being discharged Feb. 8 for disciplinary reasons and had 48 hours to outprocess and leave the base permanently.

The next day he put down his checklist and picked up a .38 revolver, returned to work, and started shooting.

"It happened really fast," said Airmen 1st Class Elman Repreza, 7th Contracting Squadron who was in the men's restroom when the exercise kicked off. "All I heard was, oh my gosh he has a gun, and then I heard shots fired."

"I grabbed my coat, jumped on top of the toilet seat and stayed there so he couldn't see my feet," Repreza said. "Then he (the shooter) barged in, checked the other stalls and left."

In this training scenario, Repreza survived. Several of his coworkers weren't as lucky. One was shot in the leg and needed a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Another nearly died of shock before being treated by paramedics.

By the end of the exercise, the gunman managed to kill and injure several more people before being taken down by 7th Security Forces Squadron personnel.

"Exercises like this are vital to keeping the Dyess community safe," said Maj. Patrick Bass, 7 SFS commander. "In 1994 an actual event happened at Fairchild Air Force Base. An individual walked into the base hospital and started killing individuals."

Bass says while exercises like this help joint responder's fine tune contingency plans to minimize casualties, the goal is to stop them from happening in the first place.

"People need to be able to recognize an individual's actions that may set them off later on down the road," added Bass.

Although active shooter incidents are rare, the threat exists.

"It's happening more often than it should," concluded Bass. "It actually should never happen."

You can find more information on dealing with an active shooter situation at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security website.
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/active_shooter_pocket_card.pdf