Emergency Responders Hold Active Shooter Drill in West Fargo

Sanford and Essentia also took part in the exercise

WEST FARGO, N.D. — If you saw a lot of first responders around Liberty Middle School this morning, there’s nothing to worry about. It was just a training exercise.

Fifteen agencies from the area practiced what would happen in the event of an active shooter.

First responders take into account mass shootings happening nationwide when they planned the exercise.

Some of the key things emergency workers practiced were how command decisions are made and working in a situation with so many different organizations.

“When it came to some of the cross communication issues or maybe some challenges of working with an officer you don’t necessarily train with day in and day out, we want to do that during exercise, and hopefully we don’t have to do that during a real event,” Jim Prochniak with Cass County Emergency Management said.

Sanford and Essentia also took part in the exercise. First responders overwhelmed them with patients so they could practice dealing with a large number of victims.