HURRICANE — Police Chief Lynn Excell told the Hurricane City Council that reports of an active shooter earlier this week saw two armed officers enter Hurricane High School less than five minutes after the call was received.
Although the call was later deemed a swatting incident, Excell shared a few highlights from the active investigation in Thursday’s council meeting. The scene could have been worse had there been an actual incident, but the active shooter response from local law enforcement was something to admire.
“I am very proud,” Excell said. “Those first officers on the scene never even hesitated.”
The complete details of the investigation will be on the mayor and City Council’s desk soon, although the chief said much of it will be confidential to the ongoing federal investigation.
Details he could share publicly included the rookie who aided the successful response time, a 911 operator on the job less than two months when she received a panicked call.
“In the recording of the call you can hear shots being fired in the background,” Excell said in the meeting.
After relaying information to the radio supervisor, the response from three state, two federal and multiple local law enforcement agencies, everybody’s response was appropriate, Excell continued.
“I don’t want to be that person on CNN that has to answer to that,” he said of the possibility the call was real.
St. George Consolidated Communications Center Manager Justin Grenier told St. George News the timely response was due to actions put into motion by two dispatchers.
On the call floor since Feb. 5, dispatcher in training Jacie Parr took the frantic call reporting shots fired and relayed the information to radio supervisor Candace Musgrave.
“Usually you’re here about a year or two before you take a really crazy, serious call like — well something like this,” Grenier said. “Between the two of them, they did a fantastic job in a situation where somebody thought of a pretty sick joke.”
With the recent spate of fake calls to schools and businesses nationwide, dispatchers are wary when a call comes in. Grenier said that did not slow response time in Hurricane’s most recent incident.
On a typical day in Southern Utah with more than 100 calls to 911, from actual medical and police emergencies to “3-year-olds getting a hold of the phone or butt dials,” dispatchers are a vital part of public safety.
“One of the tricky parts of this is, what if it’s real,” Grenier said. “99% of you says, ‘This is probably, you know, a prank call.’ And you’ve got to go with the 1%.”
Grenier said, in his opinion, Southern Utah law enforcement and emergency responders acted accordingly and in great time.
“Jacie and Candace handled the situation with professionalism — they did a great job,” he said. “I hate to single out just the two though, because the whole department shined.”
Excell told the council that all Hurricane Police Department supervisors have Incident Command System training, or national training provided to federal, state and local governments to work effectively and efficiently during emergencies.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently working with local and state law enforcement on the investigation into who placed the call on April Fools’ Day, Excell said.
Hurricane residents should not be alarmed next week as previously scheduled emergency management training will take place on Monday, April 8, at 6 p.m., the chief told city leaders.
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