Locals attend conference on dealing with school shooter/shootings

CANTON - A two-day conference dealing with how to respond to school shooter/shootings situation concluded Thursday in Canton - and was attended by representatives of the Hall County Sheriff's Office and Hall County School System.

The FBI Active Shooter Executive Law Enforcement Conference was attended by law enforcement and school personnel from across the state and took place in the wake of this week's incidents at schools in DeKalb and Cherokee counties.

The purpose of the conference was to get training in how to respond either to an actual "active shooter incident or a potential active shooter incident," according to Hall County school officials.

Special Agents from the Atlanta Field Office of the FBI conducted 10 separate sessions including:

--Behavioral Analysis Unit on Critical Incident Response
--Helping Victims and and their Families
--Actions taken by first responders
--Crisis Management with coordination through multiple law enforcement agencies and school administration
--Responding to the national media in a 24 hour news cycle
--Dealing with IED's (Improvised Explosive Devices) in an active shooter incident

Each session was highlighted with video and slide presentations of recent national and local events, including Sandy Hook, Conn. (multiple fatalities at an elementary school), Midland City, Ala. (boy taken from school bus and held hostage in underground bunker for days), student with bomb vest at Jackson County High School (2007), and the gunman this week at McNair Elementary School in DeKalb County.