Davao City’s security clusters stage mass shooting drill
THE Davao City security clusters staged a shooting and hostage-taking drill on Wednesday morning, May 19, 2021, against potential terror threats amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The simulation exercises (simex) were spearheaded by the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) at the Davao City National High School.
DCPO Director Kirby John Kraft said the conduct of the simex is upon the instruction of Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, who said there is a need to prepare for these kinds of terroristic acts.
Kraft said the activity aims to determine and strengthen the readiness of the city's security cluster in confronting forms of attacks.
The DCPO chief said mass shooting incidents are currently rampant in the United States, while there have also been previous incidents in some parts of the Philippines.
The simex enacted a shooting incident inside the DCNHS premises where a man carrying a backpack went directly inside the school and started shooting civilians in sight using undetermined firearms wounding three students.
The actor later on ran toward the adjacent building where the faculty room was located and shot five faculty members. He left his backpack outside the room and took hostage other two faculty members and four students inside the said room.
Having witnessed the incident, a school employee called Central 911 to report and called for police assistance.
During the simex, DCPO also utilized DavaoBot, an Icor MK3 robot designed for remote handling, rendering safe procedures of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other explosive ordinances. It is also tasked to support the Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) team in conducting reconnaissance missions. It has a command and control space with a built-in ramp for easy deployment.
The exercise ended with the neutralization of the perpetrator by the DCPO-Swat assaulting team when he refused all negotiations and already posed danger to hostages.
Kraft said the proper coordination and communication management of the involved security clusters showed the operational capabilities of the members of the city’s security and safety clusters.
"Nakita po natin kung paano gumalaw yung iba't-ibang law enforcement agencies and its counterparts. Nakita din natin kung ano pa ang mga kakulangan (We saw how our law enforcement agencies and its counterparts worked. We also saw some lapses) for it to improve," he said.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Kraft said adjustments were made to comply with the minimum health protocols.
Meanwhile, Kraft apologized for the traffic the simex caused.
"Sa publiko, kami po ay humihingi ng pasensya sa traffic na aming naidulot. Ang activity po na ito ay para naman po sa lahat ng Dabawenyos. (We would like to apologize to the public for the traffic it caused. We are doing this activity for the safety of all Dabawenyos.) To safeguard and make Davao City still the safest city to live in,” he said.
The official said the simex yielded positive feedback.