Pittsylvania County conducted a large active shooter training on Monday at Gretna Middle School. The training included roughly 20 agencies and more than 200 participants. 

The exercise included law enforcement, EMS and medical response, a parent-student reunification center, an incident command center, mock press briefings and on-the-scene training within the middle school before, during and after the simulated incident.

Agencies involved ranged from the Sheriff’s Office, Pittsylvania County Schools and County Fire and Rescue to VDOT and the Medical Examiner’s Office. 

The exercise was followed by a thorough debriefing session among all the participants. This was a training exercise designed to identify strengths and weaknesses and improve the County’s response going forward, according to Pittsylvania County Sheriff Mike Taylor.