The shooter, dressed in camouflage gear and packing an AR-15 entered the Southwestern Community College Founders Hall with ease. After all, he had been a student there so he knew the layout well.

But no sooner had he rushed down the hallway firing shots than a rapid deployment team of four officers caught sight of him and raced down the hallway in pursuit.

Locked securely in windowless classrooms, SCC faculty and staff listened as they heard the shot fired by Western Carolina University police officer Robert Carter that ended the shooting spree.

Soon the all clear was sounded signaling the end to SCC’s critical incident response drill.

During the Nov. 5 drill the SCC campus was locked down to students and the public. Third in a series of emergency preparedness, this drill involved area law enforcement agencies as both the role-playing shooters and the apprehenders.

Wearing camouflage gear and packing an AR-15, Matt Pellicer, Franklin police officer and part-time instructor at SCC’s Public Safety Training Center, played the role of a shooter during the college’s critical incident response drill Nov. 5.

"Officers continually train within their agency and with other agencies to be prepared and ready to respond when called,” said SCC firearms and rapid deployment instructor Jim.Mackey. “What makes it work is that everybody is taught the same way- we’re choreographed.

"When there’s a crisis like a shooter in a school, for instance, the first three or four officers on the scene quickly assess the situation and a plan of action to stop the shooting. As a rapid deployment team we go straight to the shooter and our mission is to stop the shooting.”

Mackey, serving as one of the evaluators in the college’s drill, commended the four apprehending officers for their teamwork.

Jackson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Josh Yopp watches the back of his rapid deployment team as they pursue a role-playing shooter in SCC’s Founders Hall. “You are only as good as the guy who has your back and Deputy Yopp watched your rear all the time,” SCC firearms and rapid deployment instructor Jim Mackey evaluated the team following the college’s Nov. 5 critical incident response drill.

“You are only as good as the guy who has your back and Deputy Josh Yopp watched your rear all the time,” said Mackey.

“In the old days officers would surround and contain a shooter but now they seek out the shooter immediately and stop the shooting,” said Curtis Dowdle, SCC public safety instructor and drill coordinator. “It takes speed and the training is very challenging, both physically and mentally. We had three shooting scenarios on campus Monday afternoon and it was amazing how quickly the incidents were over.”

Closing in on a role-playing shooter during Southwestern Community College’s critical incident response drill Nov. 5 is the rapid deployment team of, from left, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Ronnie Mathis, Western Carolina University Police Officer Robert Carter and deputies Andy Clayton and Josh Yopp.

"After an officer has been in a real shooting situation he will tell me later that it happened so fast,” Mackey said. “That’s when the training kicks in automatically. I tell them over and over that repetition can save their lives.”

“SCC is conducting these drills to be pro-active,” said Dowdle. “Our goal is not to make our campus a police state, but a victim-free environment.”

Along with campus security and public safety instructors, participating in the drill were the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, North Carolina Highway Patrol, Western Carolina University Police, N.C. Wildlife Commission and Jackson County 911 Communications.

After the role-playing shooter was apprehended, law enforcement officials evaluated the officers participating in Southwestern Community College’s critical incident response drill Nov. 5. Along with campus security and public safety instructors, the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, North Carolina Highway Patrol, Western Carolina University Police, N.C. Wildlife Commission and Jackson County 911 Communications participated in the drill.