Central Virginia businesses training, preparing for an active shooter

Security Lock and Key held active shooter training for community

LYNCBURG, Va.

Thursday afternoon's events in Maryland proves that the threat of violence is very real and unpredictable.

That is one reason why the head chief of Danville’s Community College threat assessment team and security staff took a trip to the Hill City.

"Unfortunately at this day in time active shooters have become a part of most of society. We feel like the more we that you can learn about how to react and how to handle these situations, the better off you are,” Howard Graves, head of the threat assessment team at DCC, said. 

Organized and paid for by Security Lock and Key, about 70 people filled a room, jotting down notes on how to react and handle an active shooter situation.

"If we can get that knowledge out there, people can get educated. People can learn how to react and what to look for in case these situations were to occur. That's the reason we wanted to put the event on,” Steve Brisson, with Security Lock and Key, said. 

Organizers invited companies to come here and speak to people to about investing in bulletproof glass for their workplace, schools or church.

"The more we learn about types of bulletproof, bullet resistant types of fabrics and glasses we've talked about that. It's expensive, there's a cost factor involved. But definitely we feel like we need to be aware of it and look into it,” Graves said. 

Members of community colleges weren't the only ones in the room. Health care professionals and people from manufacturing companies were just a few of the people in the crowd. But everyone left more knowledgeable about was situational awareness. 

"He talked about profiling. And I know profiling can be a very sensitive topic, but not so much in terms of race or ethnicity, but more so in terms of looking at nervous behavior, traits, odd behavior. Again, that was something that caught my eye, that caught my attention,” Graves said.