FARMINGTON — An emergency response exercise at the University of Maine at Farmington on Thursday included a scenario of a man dressed in a camouflage jacket and a red bandanna walking into UMF’s Preble Hall with what looked to be a rifle.

Moments later there’s a report of gunshots on the second floor and a professor taken hostage. The first police officer to arrive reports smelling propane, and soon the sound of a loud explosion near the computer center parking lot on the downtown campus. Five people with gunshot wounds to their arms and legs run out the back doors of Preble Hall.

The exercise was arranged by the Franklin County Emergency Management Agency to provide participants an opportunity to evaluate current response concepts, plans and capabilities for an incident involving an active shooter in an educational setting.

Attending were emergency responders, including police, firefighters, emergency management, medical, public works personnel and representatives of the University of Maine at Farmington, RSU 9 and media. Among the objectives were to see how each entity would respond to the situation, what they needed to do, how they would interact, how a unified command center would be created and how information would be shared.

Tim Hardy, director of Franklin County Emergency Management Agency, said the exercise was on the cutting edge of what is going on around the country. People need to realize that what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut could happen here or anywhere, and they need to be prepared, he said.

The exercise started with a real-life incident that had occurred at the university. A man upset about being denied admittance to UMF for a couple of semesters began paying to observe classes. One class he attended was organic chemistry and his questions and actions raised red flags for the professor, other staff and police, according to officials.

UMF police Chief Edward “Ted” Blais said he did an investigation and learned the man had been in a standoff with police about six years ago and was charged with illegally entering Canada by sneaking through the woods. The FBI was notified.

The man also, according to the chief, was harassing people in Farmington. He issued the man an order to stay off the campus. The information was shared with students, staff and police in the area.

When the man tried to observe classes at an Augusta college, a representative there asked UMF personnel about him and learned of his behavior and order to stay off the university grounds.

Jeremy Damren, Homeland Security exercise officer from the Maine Emergency Management Agency, said the exercise was a chance to test practices in place and improve them. He read through each part of the scenario and asked responders what they would do.

He also said it was important that clear, concise and accurate information be given to the public.

UMF staff and Blais explained their policies, how they work together and how students are notified of emergency situations. Not all students sign up for the text message system that alert them, but emails are also sent out.

Ken Grimes, a sergeant with the Office of the Maine Fire Marshal, said an active shooting situation is not a police incident or fire department incident, but a community incident.

“Everyone has their own priorities but do they understand what the other departments priorities are?” he asked.

They all need to know what is going on, what each department responsibilities are to make sure everybody is safe, everybody goes home and the bad guy goes to jail, he said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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