Anyone who travels knows that the airport is a busy place. Here in Sacramento, we have an international airport, which makes it even busier. People from all over the world come through our airport day and night. While airport security does a great job of keeping travelers safe, tragedy can still strike.
In November of 2013, a man walked into Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with an assault rifle. He shot one TSA agent to death and injured two others before being wrestled to the ground. Airport security reported that LAX’s multi-million dollar radio system didn’t help the situation. Airport police needed 45 minutes to get the situation under control and the area blocked off.
Administrators at Sacramento International Airport didn’t want the same thing to happen in the case of an emergency here. After more than a year of planning, the airport hosted a full-scale police exercise in the airport terminal to get responders ready for a situation like the one at LAX.
Nearly 200 members of 14 different law enforcement agencies took part in the drill last week. Officers were armed and loaded with blanks; some were made up to look like shooting victims. The exercise ran from midnight to 3 a.m. on September 23.” We’ve got an operations center. You’ve got unified command where all the info comes in, as well, so everything’s more streamlined in terms of communication. That’s why we had this training,” said Deputy Tony Turnbull of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.
No one ever wants to think of a situation where someone has a gun and is firing in a public place. If you or anyone you know is ever injured at an airport or other public place, don’t hesitate to contact an experienced Sacramento personal injury attorney. The Demas Law Group, P.C., can be there for you. Contact us at (916) 444-0100.
