Angry parent, two other gunmen, would have killed three, injured 25

CENTRAL VALLEY-Chaos erupted inside Monroe-Woodbury High School Tuesday, when three mock shooters staged a school takeover. The scenario was set up as a training exercise, aimed to fine tune the emergency response of school security, EMS, and law enforcement in a school shooting situation. Before the drill started, police were checking everyone who entered the building, patting down actors and press, and making sure all ammunition had been removed from the weapons the police would use during the drill. Press, actors and observers were brought into a classroom and informed of the seriousness and intensity of the drill that was about to take place. Tension filled the air as everyone was dispatched to their designated position. The drill went like this: An angry gun-wielding father, played by Woodbury Police Officer Scott Danielson, had already shot five or six victims. He then turns his gun on high school principal Aldo Filippone, who he sends to find out why his kid has failed in school. Soon, the angry father takes a student hostage, played by Woodbury Town Board Member Gerri Gianzero, and disappears into a nearby classroom. Meanwhile, on the other side of the school, two other shooters turn the cafeteria into a mock blood bath. During the next hour, members of local law enforcement and emergency response teams are tested as they regain control of the high school. The first response is from the Woodbury Police Department, followed by Monroe, Harriman and New York State Police Departments, who are all on the scene within about 10 minutes of being notified. Walking in diamond formation, the heavily armed officers carefully approach the room where one gunman is keeping his hostage. Next on the scene is a group of even more heavily armed officers covered in black body armor, called the REACT team, a team of cops from several departments, who have received special training to handle situations like this. A hostage negotiator and the REACT team take over and convince the angry father to release his hostage and come out. When he does, he is immediately tackled to the ground and dragged out in the hands of the police. The other shooters are taken down by the REACT team and have taken no hostages. Had the exercise been an actual shooting, the gunmen would have claimed three lives and wounded about 25 others. About 35 law enforcement officers were involved in the drill; a number of school officials and security guards received beneficial emergency response training during the exercise. Mike Fitzula, director of security for Monroe-Woodbury School District, said one purpose of the drill was to build better communications between the various law enforcement agencies involved in emergency response. "The drill was a total success," Fitzula said in an interview after the drill. "Whether the actions of the folks involved were the best that could have been taken or not, the point is to find the strengths and weaknesses in the system and make the proper adjustments. "The drill is designed to test the system, not the people."