“We Hope for the Best, But Train for the Worst”: Loudonville High Hosts Full-Scale Active Shooter Training
LOUDONVILLE, OH – The phrase “active shooter” alone can send a chill down the spine of any parent, student, or educator. But in today’s world, that fear must be met with preparation—and in Loudonville, it was.
On the morning of Friday, June 27, Loudonville High School became the site of a full-scale, multi-agency training exercise designed to test the emergency preparedness of Ashland County’s public safety forces in the face of a simulated active shooter scenario.
From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the normally quiet campus-style school on Campus Avenue in Loudonville, Ohio transformed into a controlled, high-intensity response zone. Streets were temporarily closed, emergency vehicles lined the perimeter, and warning signs advised residents of the active drill.
A Community-Wide Effort
Ashland County Emergency Management Agency Director Anne Strouth said the training involved dozens of agencies and months of planning. Among the participants: law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMS crews, dispatchers, crisis actors, and emergency management officials from Ashland, Holmes, and Richland counties.
“This morning, public safety agencies participated in a full-scale active shooter training exercise at Loudonville High School,” Strouth said. “The coordinated drill simulated a complex active threat incident to test the preparedness, communication, and response capabilities of all participating entities.”
The scenario mirrored a real-life school shooting response. Agencies practiced unified command operations, tactical response, and rescue task force deployment inside and around the school building. CERT volunteers, school staff, and community observers helped simulate the chaos of a real crisis—without using actual students.
“Our goal is to ensure that if a tragedy were ever to strike, we are not meeting for the first time on the worst day,” Strouth added. “Exercises like this are essential for building strong interagency coordination, reinforcing school safety plans, and identifying areas for improvement.”
Unified Voices on the Importance of Training
Loudonville Police Chief Brian McCauley praised the broad turnout: “I’m very pleased with the turnout from the different departments in an effort to work together for a common goal and to train together.”
Loudonville Police Captain Sean Gorrell echoed that sentiment: “We don’t train to pat ourselves on the back. We train to learn and to grow. It’s better to find our mistakes in a training environment so we are that much better when something bad actually happens. We owe it to our school district and to our community to continue to get better.”
Lead EMS Instructor, Ashland Fire Department Captain Tyler Smith, emphasized the need for vigilance: “The commitment and dedication of our first responders provide peace of mind to our communities, assuring them that we are well-prepared and highly capable of addressing any potential threat.”
Lead Law Enforcement Instructor, Deputy Curtis Hall of the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office said he was inspired by what he saw: “The hard work and impressive capabilities demonstrated by everyone were truly commendable. This commitment provides peace of mind to the parents in our community.”
Planning, Execution, and Lessons Learned
The drill was not thrown together quickly—it was the product of months of coordination between school officials and emergency agencies. Loudonville-Perrysville Schools partnered closely with public safety leaders to ensure the training was realistic, effective, and safe. An after-action review was conducted immediately following the event to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.
Agencies involved included:
Ashland County Sheriff’s Office, Holmes County Sheriff’s Office, Loudonville Police Department, ODNR, Ashland Police Department, Ashland Fire Department, Loudonville Fire Department, Green-Perrysville Fire Department, Hayesville Fire Department, Ashland County Coroner’s Investigator, Richland County EMA, Holmes County EMA, Western Holmes Fire Department, Polk Fire Department, CERT, Crisis Stim, Ashland University Safety Services, The Society, and Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center.
As one deputy on scene said best: “We hope for the best—but train for the worst.”
