The fake incident played out like this: A lone shooter with a book bag entered the library where he killed and wounded several people. He moved about the first floor and up to the second floor where he stood his ground in a back room.
The exercise was the second active shooter training done at St. John's since 2010. This year was different as emergency medical staff were outfitted with Kevlar vests and helmets as they followed police into the building after floors were cleared.
Treating victims in a "warm zone" means police have cleared an area, but it has not been secured, said Deputy Chief Kevin J. Simmons, director of the city's Office of Emergency Management.
The training was popularized after the Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999. Twelve students and one teacher were killed in the Colorado shooting. Back then it was considered the best practice to stage outside and wait until a building was secure before medical staff entered.
Those seconds and minutes can mean life or death.
"What we have learned from mass shootings across the United States: We need to be more aggressive," Simmons said. "It is about getting people treatment as fast and as safely as possible."
The event played out essentially in real time. Department of General Services officers were first on the scene while Anne Arundel County, Annapolis and state police troopers followed suit based on estimated response times. This simulated what those officers' roles would be when coming into the building, such as aiding the escape of wounded and assisting officers with the shooter threat.
The shooter actor, Heroes pub owner Kurt Beall, wore a large gray sweatshirt and was armed with a handgun firing essentially pellets. The ammunition made small popping sounds when fired, but officers treated the situation as serious.
Actors played the wounded and dead victims, complete with fake gunshot wounds and gashes made of make-up.
As the officers moved past the wounded, they asked where Beall had gone, trying to track down a threat that could be hiding behind the next bookshelf. Officers carefully moved past the shelves, checking down each hallway as they searched for the shooter.
The scene was chaotic as they shouted orders and questions to the wounded, most of whom were calling for help or trying to tell officers which direction Beall went.
Eventually they confronted Beall in a second-floor room, where he made his final stand. He fired several pellets at the officers who quickly returned fire, some of them reloading to resume fire.
The tone of the training was serious. There have been 145 mass shootings in the United States in 2016, according to Mass Shooting Tracker, a crowd-sourced database website. Shootings are tracked when it involves four or more people who have been shot, not necessarily killed.
While the purpose was to prepare for potentially violent events, Beall and others were able to laugh when training was over.
"It was fun," Beall said. "It gets your adrenaline going."
Police department spokeswoman Cpl. Amy Miguez said active shooter simulations are important to keep officers' reflexes and training sharp. Officers need to be aware and ready to respond if that call ever comes in, she said.
"We are prepared to take that bullet."
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