GREAT FALLS — In an effort to enhance school safety, all campuses in the Great Falls Public Schools (GFPS) district closed on Friday, November 1, 2024, for a comprehensive armed intruder training program. This training, a collaboration between GFPS and the Great Falls Police Department (GFPD), has been held annually for the past decade.
Detective Sergeant Katie Cunningham of GFPD explained, "Today we were running a district-wide training on Armed Intruder. This is a program we've offered for the last ten years."
The training, which involved 1,250 staff members across 20 locations, focused on providing educators and staff with skills to respond to an active shooter threat.
The day-long training condensed a typical six-hour program into three hours, enabling all GFPS staff to complete the curriculum in one day. Campuses, playgrounds, and facilities were closed from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with only authorized personnel permitted on-site.
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The training was designed to provide staff with practical skills, including how to secure classrooms and administer emergency medical care.
Cunningham noted that sessions included "a lecture section on what the reasoning for this training is and why we need it," as well as hands-on scenarios where participants learned barricading techniques, secondary locking methods, and basic medical interventions, such as applying chest seals and quick-clot for gunshot wounds.
Participants engaged in simulated scenarios at Great Falls High School, with staff experiencing four different emergency situations.
Training included exposure to sounds of gunfire from multiple calibers to help staff identify and respond to potential threats.
"Multiple different calibers of weapons—what that would sound like, how you may not hear it at all—and how you can address your class," Cunningham described.
The training aimed to empower staff to make quick decisions in high-stress situations, providing guidance on when to barricade, run, or, as a last resort, defend.
"It’s really an empowering moment for a lot of these teachers," Cunningham said. "They understand they do get permission to keep their students and themselves safe and alive."
The district plans to continue offering these critical training sessions to maintain a secure learning environment for students and staff.
