By LAUREN L. DILLARD
Of the News-Register

Law enforcement and medical professionals from all over the county responded to the Linfield College campus Wednesday evening to test their ability to cooperate.

This test was only a drill.

Twenty-five subjects - from principals in the McMinnville School District to Linfield students - were assigned personas in a mock campus shooting scenario. Each subject was tagged with vital signs and a breakdown of how they were injured by one of three "gunmen."

The McMinnville Police Department, Linfield Campus Safety, Oregon State Police, Yamhill County Sheriff's Office, along with Carlton, Yamhill and Newberg police departments worked to clear Linfield's Failing Hall after reports of shots being fired came in over dispatch radios.

The police arrived first on the scene, followed by McMinnville Fire Department crews to triage and treat injured subjects.

"It's so much better to be prepared and never use that training," said McMinnville Police Public Information Officer Kristin Twenge.

Screams rang out from outside Failing Hall. One woman was made to look like she had fallen out of a second story window. Screams and the mimicked sounds of gunfire echoed in Failing.

A team of five McMinnville Police officers stationed outside of the east entrance entered the building following one another closely. In the course of the drill, the police completely cleared Failing Hall.

Behind police, who were working to neutralize threats to students and staff, the fire department-coordinated Emergency Medical Service worked to extricate victims who were too wounded to walk out.

"These are very important drills to go through," said McMinnville School District Superintendent Maryalice Russell. While 25 subjects hid from "bad guys," 15 Linfield and McMinnville School District personnel donned orange vests and watched the action from the inside, Russell included.

The drill, from command post to incident location, spanned only two blocks. In reality, the command post would probably be located across campus, said McMinnville Police Cpt. Dennis Marks.

Lifeflight, REACH Mediplane Air Ambulance Service, OSP Special Weapons and Tactics and a negotiation team were called in over the radios, according to plan.

According to Linfield spokeswoman Mardi Mileham, in the case of a real tragic incident, Linfield would bring in extra grief counselors and offer services to students and the families of those affected in the event of a shooting.

Information regarding students involved in the incident would come from the police department instead of from Linfield staff. Mileham hopes to sharpen the college's use of the Internet and other tools for communication with students.

"It's not that we don't want to give information, we want to make sure that information is correct," Twenge said.

"Correct and safe," added McMinnville Fire Division Chief Debbie McDermott.

Information released to the media can affect the abilities of law enforcement to safely neutralize a threat. This drill, which combined efforts of police and fire, was one of the first in which the agencies had ever participated.

"I think it went well," Marks said. "There's some things I want to change."

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