No Waiting For Darien Cops In Shooter Situation: Chief

DARIEN, IL – Darien's police chief said this week his department's officers would make an "immediate entry" if a shooting happened in a local school.

At a Darien City Council meeting, Police Chief Greg Thomas answered aldermen's questions about how the police would handle such an incident.

This inquiry followed last month's school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where officers waited more than an hour to enter the school.

Thomas didn't mention the waiting in Uvalde, but he described how local officers would respond. He said the first one or two officers who arrived would immediately enter.

"It sounds terrible, but police are not going to help you if you are injured," the chief said. "The assailant can kill and harm faster than we can treat and extricate. As ugly as it is, officers are going to move on and move toward that threat."

Later, Thomas said, officers would arrange for paramedics to treat the injured.

When officers enter the school, they are not going to be polite, he said. They will give orders for victims to flee, hide or do something else.

"Do not be threatening," the chief said. "Keep your hands visible at all times. Keep your hands empty. Avoid quick movements... It's going to be easy for me to say to remain calm. It's going to be very difficult to do that in that situation."