Las Cruces teachers overcome active-shooter scenarios

Right as the school year begins, dozens of Las Cruces teachers and faculty members learned what steps to take if an active shooter were to enter their school, hallway or classroom.

“It’s important to be as realistic as possible to really put that pressure on the teachers,” said School Resource Officer Aaron Lazarin. “Realistically, they’re not going to be working under safe conditions.”

There were multiple situations that the faculty members experienced, including active-shooter scenarios where school resource officers charged at teachers with plastic guns, forcing the staff members to think quickly.

“It is frightening,” said Alameda Elementary School Librarian Susan Hain, who has been a librarian for 23 years. “The scenarios that we’ve been through have set a real tone for this.”

Teachers learned to barricade themselves inside classrooms, hide on top of toilets in restrooms and at times, even attack the shooter.

One teacher did just that, cornering School Resource Officer Jason Sauceda.

“That’s what they’re trained to do,” Sauceda said. “To at least do something to counter the threat.”

They were taught with A.L.I.C.E. Training, an acronym that stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate.

“I would much rather them be trained, ready and it never happen, than to not have any training at all and not know what to do,” Lazarin said.

Teachers went back to school Wednesday and class starts next Monday, August 13th.