Peru police officers train for the unthinkable

Peru Parkside School became a simulation Thursday for every parent’s worst nightmare.

The school was turned into a mock mass casualty scenario with an active shooter holding a teacher hostage after shooting a school resource officer in the knee.

Peru police officers along with a behavioral healthcare therapist from Arukah Institute of Healing participated in the training session to prepare for the potential of an active school shooting in a school.

These tragedies have become more prevalent in the U.S. In 2023, the country recorded 349 shootings in kindergarten through 12th grade schools, according to the K-12 School Shooting database. In 2024, there were 332. By April 17 of this year, 71 incidents have occurred.

To prepare for the potential threat and others the Peru Police Department trains twice a year, using practical engagement with an active threat course. The training is led by School Resource Officer Brian Zebron, a state certified Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board instructor.

Zebron said the course is designed to train officers in the fundamentals and tactical skill sets of officers of Officers Active Threat Response protocols.

“The focus of this program is to provide officers with the knowledge, specialized tactical skill sets, sensory perception techniques, decision making performance skills and strategic understanding of what is necessary to respond to an active threat situation,” he said.

Participants apply what they’ve learned – a three man coordinated response team administer medical assistance, neutralize the threat and evacuate potential victims as quickly as possible.

In the simulation, Zebron radio calls for assistance, as the SRO who has been shot by an armed assailant. Law enforcement responds with a three man team with guns raised; one quickly places a tourniquet on the fallen SRO, while the other two head to the classroom where the shooter has taken a teacher hostage.

The teacher begins screaming “He shot me. I’m hit,” in the simulation. Repeating the words over and over as the three-man team approaches the classroom.

During the exercise, the gunman fires at law enforcement – police responses with fire until the target is neutralized.

“Ok, we’ll stop it there,” Zebron said.

He takes control of the scene, allowing the officers to take a breath before reviewing every pressurized decision officers made in the fleeting five minute scenario. Then asking what the officers feel they could have improved on and what they saw.

Patrol Officer Ben Bentley, who stopped to render aid to the SRO, said with a three-man team they have the ability to render aid, but in another scenario his mindset would have changed.

“If we had active shots, I probably would have tossed the tourniquet at him and just went with the team then,” Bentley said.

“Every shot fired could be a dead kid,” Zebron said.

The team goes over the details, including the teacher’s perspective (Sgt. Ed DeGroot) and the shooters (behavioral healthcare therapist Stephen Christopherson) before moving on to the next scenario.

Training in a classroom environment through a Powerpoint presentation is not going to prepare officers for the actual chaos of an active shooter event, Zebron said.

“Hands-on training is better for sure,” Patrol Officer Aaron Queriagrossa said. “You’ve got to find your weaknesses and actually do it.”

“If you’re just sitting at a desk watching a Powerpoint, you’re not building any type of muscle memory or repetition or real-life scenario training,” Sgt. Matt Peters said.

In the past three years, Peru police officers have collectively passed more than 10,000 hours of training, with 2024 being the highest with 4,000 hours collectively.