Active shooting training exercise at Delaware County schools

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Tuesday, June 21, 2016
VIDEO: Training exercise in Bryn Mawr
A life-saving training for police and first responders took place Tuesday in Delaware County.

BRYN MAWR, Pa. (WPVI) -- A life-saving training for police and first responders took place Tuesday in Delaware County.

It was an active shooter training exercise put on by the Haverford Township Police Department today.

This drill was actually scheduled before the massacre in Orlando.

But, the deadly siege weighed heavily on the officers and volunteers who participated.

The drills involved Colman-John Neumann School in Bryn Mawr and Foley Regional School in Havertown.

Officers were deployed to one school, just as they would in a real active shooter situation.

And while they were trying to contain it, they were thrown a curve ball.

A second active shooter scenario exercise unfolded at the second school.

As you can imagine, officers had to use all of their training and knowledge to deal with both incidents.

Teachers and staff stood in as victims during the fake emergency.

Although this was just an exercise, some teachers say it really hit home for them.

"The first time, I got kind of teary eyed because to think that this is reality in school and it's hard to take in," Colman-John Neumann School principal Cathie Lamberto said.

Authorities say the biggest goal of the exercise is to figure out what's working and what needs to be improved when it comes to responding to emergency situations.