by Morgan Montalvo
WOAI News
One of the few survivors of the shooting rampage inside the Columbine High School Library nearly 20 years ago spoke at last night's "active shooter" preparedness workshop at Port San Antonio, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Crystal Woodman Miller opened the awareness-level course, hosted by the West San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and conducted by Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar and a select group of instructors from his department. The event was part of San Antonio Dreamweek activies.
Miller says as the number of mass shooting incidents increases, all segments of the public should adopt a survival mindset based on training and readiness.
"Unfortunately, we're seeing these events bcome so commonplace that we must not only be making sure that we're trying to prevent these types of attacks, but that we know how to respond in the event that they do occur," Miller says.
She says businesses can play an important role in starting - and maintaining - community dialogue about safety and preparedness.
"It's getting the dialogue started; it's talking about what can make businesses safer, what can make our schools, what can make our communities safer."
That is obviously something that is very near and dear to my heart because I think so often we hear 'Oh, that can never happen here, our community is safe," Miller says.
The two-hour presentation focuses on the "A-D-D" strategy for dealing with an armed attack: Avoiding the threat, Denying the attacker a target, and Defending one's self as a last resort.
Salazar says organizations can request the Active Shooter training course by contacting the Sheriff's Community Oriented Resource and Education, or S.C.O.R.E., unit at: https://www.bexar.org/771/Crime-Prevention-Programs
PHOTO: Columbine High School mass shooting survivor Crystal Woodman Miller, right, and Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar visit with attendees during Thursday evening's Active Shooter safety class sponsored by the West San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. Photo by Morgan Montalvo