FBI Works To Train Police On Mass Killing Response

SALISBURY, Md. (AP) -- Two men stand anxiously at a classroom entrance and another lies seriously wounded beside a wall outside. "Don't come down here, I'm telling you -- I'll kill 'em," a man inside the classroom shouts to officers snaking down the corridor with guns drawn. A brief attempt at negotiations quickly fizzles as the officers approach the room, yell to the men inside to get down and take out the gunman in a swift firefight.

The drill is part of a training program the FBI is helping run for local law enforcement agencies nationwide. Acting on a White House directive after last December's Connecticut school massacre, and partnering with a Texas-based training center, the FBI this year has been teaching best practices for responding to mass shootings.

"You don't need negotiators, you don't have time for SWAT teams, you need to get in there as fast as possible and stop the killing," said Chris Combs, who runs the FBI's Strategic Information and Operations Center, the headquarters command post for major emergencies, and is involved in running the program.
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