VCU, city of Richmond conduct full-scale active shooter training on campus

Officers standing outside of the student commons holding fake blue guns. — VCU Police, Richmond Police and Virginia State Police were among the agencies that participated in the active shooter training at University Student Commons. (Photo by Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications).

Aug. 2, 2023

VCU, city of Richmond conduct full-scale active shooter training on campus

The exercise in University Student Commons provided VCU, Richmond and local, state and regional public safety partners an opportunity to practice a coordinated response to an emergency.

To practice a coordinated response to an active shooter scenario, Virginia Commonwealth University and the city of Richmond — in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management as well as local, regional and state public safety agencies — held a training exercise involving more than 200 participants on VCU’s Monroe Park Campus on Wednesday.

The exercise simulated an active shooter incident inside University Student Commons and involved a heavy presence of law enforcement officers, EMTs, firefighters and emergency vehicles. The exercise included simulated sounds, including gunfire and crowd panic, as well as volunteers role-playing as injured victims and witnesses.

“No matter what happens day to day on our campuses, we always have to be prepared and in a state of readiness,” said John Venuti, VCU’s associate vice president for public safety and chief of police. “Training gives us the opportunity to practice and refine our responses, and we’re thankful for the partnerships we have across the region.”

In addition to the law enforcement agencies and other first responders, the exercise also involved the participation of VCU’s Incident Coordination Team, which includes university leaders who coordinate operations during emergencies, weather events and other incidents that cause major impacts to VCU’s campuses.

A woman smiling while holding down the color of her shirt to show two wounds made with special effects makeup. — Volunteers from the VCU and Richmond communities played a variety of roles in the exercise, including injured members of the public, providing first responders with the opportunity to triage simulated victims. (Photo by Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications).

Richmond police and other city agencies took part in the exercise alongside the VCU officials, working in coordination as they would in a real crisis situation.

“As the city of Richmond continues to focus on emergency management as a top priority, we are fortunate to work with experienced partners such as Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management,” said Stephen Willoughby, coordinator of emergency management for the city. “We will continue to work with our partners to practice and refine our ability to keep the city’s residents and visitors safe and well-informed, as well as to protect its resources.”

A significant number of volunteers from the VCU and Richmond communities participated in the exercise. Ari Galbraith, second-year master’s degree student in the criminal justice program of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, volunteered to role play as a member of the public experiencing an asthma attack amid the active shooter scenario.

“As a criminal justice student, I thought this sounded like a really interesting opportunity,” she said. “I wanted to see what the [first responders] do in a situation like this, and hopefully feel prepared if such a situation were to happen in real life.”

Ahead of the exercise, VCU distributed multiple messages via mass mail, VCU Alert text notifications, VCU and VCU Police social media, the TelegRAM newsletter and the news media to provide advance warning to the VCU and Richmond communities about the training.

In a real emergency, the university will use VCU Alert technologies to communicate threats, protective actions and impacts to the university; updates are posted on the VCU Alert website, alert.vcu.edu.

A woman wearing a paramedic's uniform kneeling next to a person with a yellow vest that says \"CONTROLER\" in black letters. — A paramedic with Richmond Ambulance Authority speaks with an exercise controller during an active shooter training on VCU’s Monroe Park Campus. (Photo by Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications).

Members of the VCU community are encouraged to subscribe to VCU Alert text messages by visiting the myVCU portal and clicking "Manage Emergency Alerts" under the “General Resources” tab. Community members can also sign up for VCU Alert texts on the VCU Alert website to receive information about campus emergencies and cancellations.

The VCU community is also encouraged to be familiar with the “Run. Hide. Fight.” method of personal protection for active shooter threats. Active shooter safety information and an educational video on “Run. Hide. Fight.” are available on the VCU Police website.

VCU community members are further encouraged to review the university’s Emergency Notification, Response and Evacuation policy, which outlines procedures for prompt emergency notification, response and potential evacuation, upon confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of students, faculty or staff occurring on the university’s campuses.

Throughout the year, VCU Police provides active shooter response training for groups of VCU and VCU Health students, faculty and staff; please email training requests to crimeprevreq@vcu.edu.

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