<p class="p1">Teachers in Vernon Parish received specialized instruction on active shooter safety techniques on Tuesday from agents with the FBI’s Alexandria field office. 

<p class="p1">Special Agent Jeff Goins, who himself is a Leesville High School alum, said his approach to the meeting was to provide the same advice he would provide to his own mother, a retired public school teacher. 

<p class="p1">He said his strongest piece of advice to the teachers was to put themselves in a constant state of awareness with their surroundings, and to always make a conscious plan of action in case a violent event were to occur. 

<p class="p1">“While today we are focusing on school campuses, what we’re discussing could happen just as easily in any public setting,” Goins said. 

<p class="p1">He said that by constantly considering the many options before them, teachers would find themselves more prepared in an emergency situation, and thus far more likely to have a successful response to an active shooter incident. 

{{tncms-inline content="&amp;lt;p class=&amp;quot;p1&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;&amp;amp;lsquo;By thinking about what you should do now and in the coming days, and talking about it with your staff members, you&amp;amp;rsquo;re not going to freeze up.&amp;amp;rsquo;&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;p class=&amp;quot;p3&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Special Agent Jeff Goins&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;p class=&amp;quot;p4&amp;quot;&amp;gt;FBI&amp;amp;rsquo;s Alexandria field office&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;" id="275f7d19-fec3-4e0b-9908-17ee927e1e6b" style-type="quote" title="Pull Quote" type="relcontent"}}

<p class="p1">“By thinking about what you should do now and in the coming days, and talking about it with your staff members, you’re not going to freeze up,” he said. 

<p class="p1">Goins said one of the biggest problems in an active shooter situation is that victims nearby tend to go into a state of denial, and do not believe what is happening is real.

<p class="p1">“When the shots ring out, you have to take action,” he told the teachers. “If you can hear the gunshots, you are in range of the gunshots.”

<p class="p1">Goins also offered advice to teachers on how to target individuals on what he said could be on the path to violence. Because most school shootings are premeditated, he said many potential school shooters could possibly begin displaying signs days before an attack is made. He urged teachers to alert officials if they suspected a student was struggling in their personal lives. 

<p class="p1">“Contact me, call Sheriff Sam Craft or call Leesville PD,” he said. “We can get involved and get these people off of that path, and the sooner the better.”

<p class="p1">The seminar was part of the district’s final day of inservice training before students return from spring break, and Rosepine Elementary School teacher Terry Jopling said that she felt very positive about what she had learned. 

<p class="p1">“We have had active shooter drills before, but today’s meeting was very different,” she said. “Today I felt like what I was learning was really catered to me and a classroom, and I learned a lot of things that I am going to take back with me. I am very grateful to the sheriff and the school board for providing this to us teachers.” 

<p class="p1">School district Superintendent James Williams said the planning stages of Tuesday’s forum began the day after the tragic Florida school shooting on Feb. 14. 

<p class="p1">On Feb. 22, authorities charged a Leesville teen with terrorizing after allegedly making threats of violence towards their school on social media. Craft said that while such incidents appear to have died down over the recent weeks, he was enthusiastic about providing thorough training to local teachers. 

<p class="p1">“No one wants this training to have to be used one day, but we hope to provide teachers with the tools necessary to protect their students and themselves in a worst-case scenario,” Craft said.