"Nothing's Changed": Active Shooter Drill Prepares LI Town For Worst

MATTITUCK, NY — "I don't want to die!" The cries echoed in the bleachers in 2022 at a mass casualty, active shooter drill that took place at Greenport High School. And now, a new group of agencies, first responders, students and others will participate in a second training, set to take place at Mattituck High School on Saturday, August 19, from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

The event, hosted by the Mattituck Fire Department and the Southold Town Fire Chief's Council, takes place at Mattituck High School, when the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District joins the multi-agency emergency training exercise.

The purpose of the training exercise is to test communication methods and response with emergency responders, while immersed in an atmosphere simulating a real emergency, the district said.

First responders from all disciplines including fire rescue, emergency management, hospital staff, law enforcement, medical helicopters and more will take part in the training exercise. Residents and motorists may see activity in the area as early as 7 a.m., when set-up begins, the district added. Residents may also see or hear a heightened presence of fire, police and rescue vehicles near the high school and in the community. Residents are advised to avoid driving and walking in the area during the training exercise.

"Mattituck-Cutchogue Superintendent of Schools Shawn Petretti wants to reassure the community that this training exercise is not real. This exercise is a testing and training exercise simulating a large-scale emergency in the community. Again, no part of this exercise is real," the district said.

According to Chip Bancroft, whose company Firehouse Training Plus + is organizing the event, at about 9:30 a.m. a staged active shooter incident will take place at what is supposed to be a sports event; the drama will include two small explosions. "Numerous victims with a multitude of injuries will result from this incident," he said. "The shooter will then flee and hide in the school."

Participating in the drill are the Mattituck Fire Department, Firehouse Training Plus+, the Southold Police Department, Suffolk County Fire Rescue Emergency Services, Suffolk County Emergency Medical Services, Human Understanding & Growth Services, or HUGS, Suffolk County Critical Incident Stress Management, Eastern Long Island Hospital, the Greenport, Cutchogue East Marion, Orient, Southold, Jamesport, Eastport, Shelter Island and Wading River Fire Departments, Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps, the Hampton Bays Volunteer Ambulance Corps, the Shelter Island Red Cross Ambulance Drivers Association, East Moriches Community Ambulance, and more.

Bancroft told Patch that more than 50 volunteer "victims" will act out the drill; he said HBO plans to be onhand to film the exercise for a documentary. HBO has not returned to multiple requests for comment.

About 27 volunteers are still needed; to participate, contact HUGS in Westhampton Beach at 631-288-9505, Bancroft said.

Preparedness is critical, Bancroft said, with a parents' meeting held before the event and support for the teens involved before, during, and after the exercise.

The need for the drill is greater than ever, with school shootings a dark scepter threatening the safety of students everywhere, Bancroft said. "It's still an important situation nationally and worldwide," he said. "Nothing has changed. Like anything else, when you train you try to make it better, more streamlined. The ultimate goal is to get the victims treated and to definitive care as soon as possible. Our job is to stay prepared for the community."

The training will take place both outdoors and inside the high school, Bancroft said, with police officers onhand to "neutralize" the terror that's unfolding.

This year, for the first time, a "Night of Survivors" presentation will be held on Friday, August 18 at the Mattituck High School auditorium. Individuals will share their dramatic and heartfelt stories of surviving the Sandy Hook, Aurora Cinema, Washington Navy Yard, Columbine High School, and Oak Creek Sik Temple shootings.

The event takes place from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and will take place in a Town Hall format, with speakers first sharing their stories, and then a time for questions and answers. To register, hold your phone above the bar code shown above.

"We believe it's the first time we'll have victims, and first responders, all speaking together at one time, in one forum," Bancroft said.

Those involved will also discuss the importance of counseling in relation to active shooter events, he said.

Bringing together agencies from across Long Island to participate is critical, so in the event of a real emergency, all are prepared.

"We want the public out there to know how hard their local responders are trying to protect them," Bancroft said.

The 2022 drill was grim in its timeliness: Although it had been planned since February, the drill took place just days after 19 children and two adults were killed in the Uvalede, Texas school shooting.

Although the upcoming exercise is just a drill, the goal is to educate not just first responders, police and fire personnel, but also to teach young people the importance of speaking out if they see or hear a threat on social media, Bancroft said.

"Don't feel shy or embarrassed," he said. "You are extra important." Especially, he said, with school threats rampant.

HUGS will offer a full debriefing for students after the event.

Communication in the heat of the moment is critical, Bancroft has said. On the East End, many departments work independently, he said. "That's not bad, unless something big happens," he said, adding that it's important to learn to work as one unit during a mass shooting. All involved in the drill had a unified command system, involving fire, police and EMS.

"They have to learn how to talk to each other," he said. "Communication is always key."

Throughout his whole career in handling such events, since 1982, Bancroft said communication has always been an issue. "It's historical," he said.

Bancroft credited President George Bush for instituting the National Incident Management System after 9/11 so that agencies nationwide can communicate in an emergency.

During the worst of times, first responders often have to make rapid-fire, wrenching decisions.

"There are some you know you can't save. You save as many as you can. People can be talking to you, and you know they're bleeding out and aren't going to make it. So you walk by and put tags on them."

While it's not easy, Bancroft said it's critical to focus on the task at hand. "It's important to know what you can and can't do," he said.

As for those who think that a mass shooting can't happen on the bucolic East End, Bancroft reminded, "It can happen anywhere at any time."

For Bancroft, the satisfaction comes from doing his best to prepare communities to face unthinkable situations, such as how to talk to frantic parents who show up at the scene, asking for their children.

"We're doing this to be able to provide better service, to streamline service so that if, God forbid, something happens, we can mitigate it more quickly," he said.