COLUMBUS, Ohio — It has been one year since a gunman killed 21 people at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. And since that mass shooting, there have been hundreds of other incidents that unfolded within the past year.
The increase in active shooter situations is prompting many to sign up for training and other simulations that teach active shooter response techniques, even people who have survived mass shootings.
Adam Hall lives in Columbus and was at the Las Vegas mass shooting, which killed 58 people and injured nearly 500 others in 2017. He still remembers how it felt at that moment.
“My mind was selling me this idea that it was electronics or it was an idiot in the bathroom with fireworks or something. I was really just trying to believe it was something other than what it was” said Hall.
Hall and everyone he was at the concert with made it out alive, but still feel they could have responded better at the moment when it came to survival techniques. Since the mass shooting, Hall has taken steps to educate himself about how to react to this situation if it ever happens again.
He completed the CRASE training through the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, which teaches people how to respond in the event of an active shooter.
“Trying to understand what to do and how to do it in reacting to an active shooter event, that's not something that’s the happiest conversation. But it’s important” said Hall.
The CRASE training through the Franklin County Sheriff's Office is becoming more popular. Back in 2021, they hosted 35 classes, which had 989 people enrolled. That number more than doubled in 2022, with 2,389 people taking the course in total. So far this year, 895 people have already taken the CRASE training at the FCSO.
“Doing something is better than doing nothing, and also knowing your surroundings!” said Michael Fetherolf with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. Fetherolf helps run the CRASE training and said they typically see more people sign up after a major tragedy.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office is on about a two to four-month wait for class enrollment but is accepting anyone interested in getting trained.