CIBOLO, Texas —
In a moment of danger, outsmarting the bad guy could be easier said than done. Cibolo police are offering a free class, designed to help you make those split second decisions in an active shooter situation.
Early Thursday morning, five uniformed Cibolo police officers flooded into city hall with their rifles at the ready. The move was a drill but its something people who live in Cibolo hope never becomes a reality.
"With the recent tragedies just a few weeks ago of the Virginia Beach shooting, we get a lot of questions as to how do civilians respond to these events, how do they survive,” said Officer Matt Schima. “So we want to teach those in our area, what are some useful tactics, how do they overcome the physical, the emotions, all of that to survive these events."
Cibolo police will train you to avoid, deny and defend this Saturday, for free.
"First they avoid, so running out of the building as soon as possible. If they're not able to avoid, to deny entry into whatever room they are in,” said Schima. “Then last is to defend themselves, picking up whatever's in the room to be able to defend themselves because their life depends on that."
Schima says part of the training will be to search for back exits that are easy to overlook and learn how to focus through the adrenaline of a crisis.
"Now we're seeing businesses and schools do active shooter drills where we're going through the motions so that when it does happen, God forbid, our body is able to get past the emotion and go into training mode and get out," said Schima.
He says anyone can arm themselves with a survival plan. Then, it's time to practice it. Officers don't want anyone to be left in the dark.
The police department plans to hold training classes every six months. The free active shooter response class will be held at the Cibolo Police Department this Saturday, June 22 from 9-11 a.m. Participants should be 18 years old.
Save your spot by visiting Cibolotx.gov: Registration Form