Lead Investigator In Virginia Tech Massacre Heads Training In OK

A former FBI agent turned Deputy Chief of Police at Virginia Tech was at UCO Tuesday morning to train Oklahoma law enforcement agencies about active shooter situations.

The Oklahoma Law Enforcement Museum and Hall of Fame brought in Kevin Foust to run the training. He was a lead investigator after the Virginia Tech Massacre in 2007 and walked law enforcement officers through exactly what happened in hopes to improve responses if necessary.

"It can happen pretty much anywhere," said Foust. "The famous last words are, 'it'll never happen here.' We all want to believe that and we all hope and pray that's true but all it takes is one time."

The shooter at Virginia Tech killed 32 people before he turned the gun on himself. Foust said the job now is to teach everyone how to prepare and act if one of these situations happens in Oklahoma.

"I spend some time talking about lesson learned. Some of the mistakes we made," explained Foust. "I encourage the audience to forget about what ultimately happened on April 16 at Virginia Tech but walking through the set of circumstances as they presented themselves that day and then I challenge them."

He focused much of his presentation on everything from the shooter, warning signs, improving communication and even information that has not been released to the public. For officers in the class, it was an eye-opening experience that they hope will better prepare them in the unfortunate event that it happens in Oklahoma.

"When he experienced his experiences in 2007, it was the first time and they didn't know what faced them. Now we've heard some things that we're learning inside that room in there that's not going to be unusual for us," said Julie Morris with the Tulsa Police Department.

Find out more about the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Museum and Hall of Fame!