Large-scale emergencies like Columbine are unlikely in most communities; yet the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office knows that preparation for such a rampage is still essential.

Working with the Archdale Police Department, Guil-Rand Fire Department and Randolph County Emergency Medical Services, the Sheriff’s office coordinated an exercise after school May 27 on the campus of Wheatmore High School.

“They do a training exercise at a different school every year so that they can become familiar with the school layout,” said Officer Chris Phillips.

In this event, the agencies handled twoscenarios that included multiple shooters, wounded victims and a hostage situation.

In an exclusive, the NEWS was allowed access to the campus, the officers, the students and the command center.

Twenty Wheatmore students and a few parents volunteered for the training exercise.

Sgt. Scott Hicks, Sgt. Tom Immel and Cpl. Wayne Faircloth, all of the sheriff’s office, organized and coordinated the exercise. The Sheriff’s office holds monthly training events.

Two scenarios played out.

In the first, hostile relations between two groups fueled a bad situation.

Armed suspects invaded the school and began to shoot people. When the students heard gunshots, they scattered and hid throughout the building.

The invaders created a diversion with two pipe bombs.

“Good guy” snipers performed rapid entry deployment. Some of the emergency response team took their position in Wheatmore’s front lobby, while others moved stealthily throughout the building to locate the multiple suspects.

The snipers remained focused on their task. They passed by “injured” students to neutralize the armed suspects as quickly as possible.

But the injured weren’t ignored. Guil-Rand firefighters coordinated with the emergency response team and moved in at their command to extract the civilian casualties using a mega-mover, something like a body bag but designed to carry the wounded.

A radio message blared, “All the bad guys are dead.”

One of the sheriff’s snipers, a five-year veteran, was skeptical of the “announcement.” He raised an eyebrow but never moved from his position.

“How do they know all the bad guys are dead?” he mumbled.

He wasn’t the only skeptic. The response team combed every classroom and stairwell and took no one, not one person, for granted. Nobody wore “bad guy” hats that day. Every person found in the building marched out at “gunpoint” with hands behind their heads. They would sort out the good guys and bad guys later. Just clearing the building took an hour.

While further injuries were prevented, the event did not go well for some participants. Darren Autry was “mortally wounded.” Morgan Sears had a “gunshot wound” and Madison Drye suffered a “fractured hip.”

Following the scenario, sheriff’s personnel interviewed the hostages to evaluate the performance of the emergency response team.

Casey Hilliard, a student, said she was a little bit frightened at one point during the exercise.

“We were hiding out in the guidance office,” she said. “When the cops came in, we didn’t know who they were. We thought maybe they were more bad guys. Then he got us out, and it was like, praise Jesus!”

After a cold drink and a meal, participants prepared for the second scenario.

Here’s the scene: the Wheatmore school resource officer had been shot and an unknown number of armed suspects were using his radio to communicate their demands.

Students were being held hostage.

Unlike the first scenario, this was not a situation where the sheriff’s office would rush in. A suspect on the radio had threatened to kill hostages if they so much as saw a sniper.

In an upstairs classroom, students sat in chairs as one of the captors stood with a gun near the door and another was seated behind them. Without the lights on, the classrooms were virtually dark. The suspects ordered the hostages not to utter a sound.

This scenario prompted two actions by the sheriff’s office. Unseen by the suspects, officers prepared for an order to enter. Officers in the mobile command unit set up for full negotiations to unsnarl the volatile situation. Everyone in the command unit had a different job, but worked in sync.

While negotiators set up a banter, Detective Sgt. David Jones of the Archdale Police Department wrote every tidbit of information on a dry-erase “situation board.”

The situation board revealed that the suspects were part of an antigovernment group.

“They were actually wanting things from the government, but were using the hostages to draw attention to their cause,” said Hicks.

Detective Ed Blair acted as an on-the-scene observer.

“The negotiator has to use their active listening skills to establish that link, identify the problem and work on a solution,” Blair said.

That’s exactly what negotiator Detective Anthony Tuggle did when he asked the suspects if there was anything that he could do to help.

“I’m hot, I’m hungry and I’m thirsty,” admitted the bad guy spokesman, who offered to trade a hostage for eight bottles of cold water.

The situation escalated right along with the temperature. When hostage Tyler Harvey was sent at gunpoint down the hall to get the water for the kidnappers, he was grabbed away by officers.

Aggravated, the kidnapper “shot” hostage Betty Denny. Wounded in the right thigh, she limped halfway down the hall and collapsed. She screamed for help and was dragged away to safety by team members.

While deputies questioned Harvey for a description, radio communications ceased. Negotiators could only wonder what had happened. With information from Harvey and according to procedure, the response team made rapid entry.

Within a short time, responders escorted the hostages out to the command vehicle.

Sighs of relief could be heard from negotiators, response team and hostages alike.

Those sighs not only signaled relief from the day’s work, but also of “thank God, this wasn’t real.”

“We just want to be better prepared for any situation that should arise,” said Hicks. “It gives us an opportunity, where if you make mistakes, it’s during training and not in real life so you can correct them next time.”

Charles Cardwell, who serves as the training officer for Guil-Rand, pointed out that if there had been an actual shooter, firefighters would have staged equipment at a distance and would not enter until the suspects were in custody.

“Just getting in there to see how they operated and coordinated the situation was helpful,” he said. “We learned a lot from seeing how things work from the law enforcement point of view. It will help us to work with them better in the future.”

Archdale Police Chief Darrell Gibbs also counts this as valuable experience.

“When everybody comes together, everybody knows the protocol and what is expected of them,” he said. “It makes what we do easier and more efficient.”

Even the students found reassurance in the exercise.

In spite of a “gunshot wound,” Morgan Sears said, “This was like the best experience ever.”

“We make it as real as we can make it,” said Chief Deputy Fred Rutledge of the Sheriff’s office. Rutledge evaluated his department’s personnel performance.

Hicks thanked everyone who participated.

“I am tickled at all the students who agreed to participate,” he said. “I hope that it will alter their outlook to give them a better understanding of what we do.”