The sound of an airgun being fired on campus at Moorpark High School. This is a rehearsal before students return to the site on Wednesday, but the educators and staff here know this situation could be all too real. They’re undergoing training to deal with an active assailant on campus.
All of Moorpark Unified School District’s 982 teachers, administrators and staff who are considered front line when it comes to protecting students during an emergency, or natural disaster - are provided the training.
"It's not something we signed up for as educators but it's our reality now," said Zaid Bakoo, the Principal at Moorpark High School.
Bakoo told KCLU the training sets them up for the worst case scenario, and puts school safety at the forefront.
"With that being our reality, we can't ignore it or dismiss it. We need to ensure that we are prepared," he said.
The school district has partnered with Strategos, a specialist organization with expertise in active assailant response training in educational institutions.
"When somebody hears the word active shooter or shooter response, unless someone has been trained it usually instills some sort of fear," explained Chris Farrell, Director of Special Projects for Strategos International.
"So what we are here to do is teach them how to respond...in a trained manner, rather than an untrained manner. Because we have found that in the absence of direction, people will self direct....and when hundreds of people self direct, it becomes chaotic very quickly," said Farrell.
Should the worst happen, teachers are the first line of defense before law enforcement can arrive, and those minutes count, says K’Lynn Occhipinti - a Deputy with the Ventura County Sheriff’s office and the school resource officer for the Moorpark unified school district.
"They're the first line of defense and they're the ones that are going to have to go through some measures to try and ensure the safety of students and other teachers and admin," she said.
"It may take a few minutes for law enforcement to get here, if I'm not on campus," she explained.
Kyle Ray is the media production teacher at Moorpark High School. He says the prospect of an active assailant on campus is scary to think about and the training he’s being given is a chance to be prepared should the worst happen.
"It's a lot... it's exhausting to think about, it's scary... the best thing you can do is be prepared and have the kids be prepared," said Ray.
It’s a skill set that most here hope to never need to use, but say it’s a way to empower staff to have confidence that they are as prepared as they could be.
