The Monroe County Cooperative Extension Service  collaborated with the Tompkinsville – Monroe County Chamber of Commerce and the City of Tompkinsville Police Department to offer an Active Shooter Training to the public.  

Whether you are at a mall, in a theater, grocery shopping, at work, attending a ballgame or listening to a concert, an active shooter situation can occur.  Actions taken between when the event begins and law enforcement arrives are significant and can increase survivability. The six  hour training was conducted by Tompkinsville Police Officers on two consecutive nights and coordinated by the Monroe County Extension Agents for Agriculture and 4-H Youth Development.   The objectives of the program were:   to  provide individuals with knowledge to better enable them to prepare for active shooter events;  to feel empowered to make their own life-saving decisions;  to allow them to experience realistic exercises where they could put into action what they had been taught; to provide a debriefing period where there could be open discussion regarding what worked and what did not, and other options that may be considered. 

Twenty-four individuals registered for the classes including two high school students and their parents.  Business owners stated that the program was beneficial because they are going to reevaluate the entrances to their facilities and how workstations are arranged, as well as arranging active shooter training for their employees.  The youth participants stated that they were glad to have an awareness of what can happen in a public active shooter situation and that they now felt better equipped to respond.