Minnesota Law Enforcement Perform Annual Emergency Drill

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Several law enforcement and military agencies teamed up for an active shooter emergency drill on Friday morning.

The exercise helped several different entities work together in the case of any type of emergency that would require all hands on deck.

Ramsey County Sgt. John Eastham said the active shooter scenario training at an Arden Hills National Guard building took about one year to plan.

While recreating the emotion of an event with injuries would be impossible, the training was as close to real as crews could make it.

"If you don't practice, you'll never be able to do as well if something occurs," Eastham said.

Military, law enforcement, fire and emergency response members worked together to respond to a practice scenario where two active shooters entered a government building and injured almost 30 people.

The training also included response from the State Patrol and K-9 units that were trying to find a gunman.

Friday's training included the possibility of people seeking to do harm, but Eastham explained it was practice for any type of big event like a natural disaster.

"Any event that involves multiple casualties and multiple areas," Eastham said.

Eastham said drills like this happen annually because it takes so much time and effort to organize.

Most of the participants were already on duty Friday.