UVALDE, Texas — The report the Department of Justice released on its findings surrounding the 2022 mass shooting response at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde doesn't just talk about what went wrong but what can be done differently moving forward.
That's on the top of Terry Nichols' mind, a retired police chief and one of the founders of the ALERRT Center at Texas State University.
The ALERRT Center offers active shooter response training. It was founded after the mass shooting at Columbine High School. From there, it took off, and unfortunately, as more mass shootings happened, Nichols said he realized more training in specific areas was needed in order to know how to respond better.
“Fast forward a few years after Aurora, we realized that law enforcement also needs medical response, and we need to work with our brothers and sisters and fire services and EMS so we can get people out to higher levels of care,” said Nichols.
Nichols isn’t with ALERRT anymore. He left in 2016, but over time as a police chief and an active shooter training expert, he’s seen what lessons have been learned and what needs to be added to these trainings.
“You look at the ones that have happened, from Pulse to Uvalde, these other ones, you realize that instant command is huge,” said Nichols. “We're talking about very, very fast, very fluid working together.”
Nichols said instant command and communication are key. While the hope is that these tragedies stop happening, he said it’s vital to keep learning so the same mistakes aren’t made again.
“It just takes that one person stepping up and accepting responsibility, realizing, here's what we have to do, let’s go forth and do it and hopefully save lives,” said Nichols.
Nichols goes on to say he hopes that as a profession, law enforcement continues to grow, learn and partner with first responders and school districts.