Active shooter training exercises underway at Glendale Community College

Members of Glendale fire, police and college police have been training since the morning in an active shooter scenario, which Lt. Brian Cohen said was planned months ago.

The mock scenario is that of a shooter who has taken a teacher hostage and has shot several students in two classrooms, Cohen said. Police then clear and secure the classrooms while crisis negotiators talk to the mock shooter.

The second scenario, he said, would include a man who has taken someone hostage and is threatening to jump off a building.

The drill, which is held at different campuses in Glendale, is and annual training event for public safety personnel, Cohen said.

While police planned the drill in advance of the shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school -- where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults -- “the reason why we are doing it is because of incidents like that,” Cohen said.

The drills will remain completely closed to the public while they are carried out. Students, however, are still able to access services.

-- Veronica Rocha, Times Community News

Follow Veronica Rocha on Google+ and on Twitter: @VeronicaRochaLA.