NORFOLK, Va. — Dozens of Navy personnel and law enforcement officers practiced their response should tragedy strike at Naval Station Norfolk on Wednesday.
During a full-scale active shooter drill at the Installation's Air Mobility Command Terminal, the crews worked together to take down four gunmen.
“Large scale active shooter event that transitioned into a mass casualty event, said Installation Training Director Derick Graham.
Multiple agencies rushed to the scene with guns drawn to eliminate the threats and rescue victims quickly.
Installation Training Director Derick Graham said the training took three months to plan.
“We partner with the Norfolk Police Department, Norfolk Special Operations Division, Virginia State Police, Virginia Tactical operations as well, in addition to our local NCIS which is our on base criminal investigation command and then our naval security forces," Graham said.
The teams ran the drill four separate times to perfect their response.
“We don’t want to get to know each other when an incident occurs," said Naval Station Norfolk Commanding Officer Captain Janet Days. "This right here builds bridges.”
Naval Station Norfolk Commanding Officer, Captain Janet Days, said everything went smoothly.
"I was very pleased with one just the motivation, energy," Days said.
Graham said the practice is invaluable and will happen as often as possible.
"Make this a routine occurrence to protect the lives of civilians and sailors on the installation.”
Captain Janet Days said the last large scale active shooter drill occurred at Naval Station Norfolk in 2021.