AUTHORITIES PRACTICE TOGETHER FOR EMERGENCIES AT SCHOOLS POLICE TRAIN TO QUELL VIOLENT STANDOFFS.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Armed with pistols firing paintballs, sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol officers maneuvered Wednesday through Palmdale High School hallways and rooms occupied by screaming teenagers in theatrical makeup.

In response to campus shootings at such places as Columbine (Colorado) and Santee (San Diego County) high schools, 60 lawmen took advantage of Palmdale High School being closed for winter break to train for how to neutralize or apprehend gunmen quickly among crowds of hysterical students.

``Our motto is you perform as you train,'' said Sgt. Ken Wright of the Palmdale sheriff's station. ``There's no substitute for the real thing. These guys get real training for real situations.''

Similar training has been done at other Antelope Valley high schools, starting soon after the deadly 1999 shootings at Columbine High School, in which two teen gunmen killed 12 students, a teacher and themselves.

A teen killed two schoolmates and wounded 13 other people in 2001 at Santana High.

When the two armed teenagers began shooting at Columbine, officials said, law enforcement officers did exactly what they were trained to do: stay outside the campus until backup officers arrived.

But that tactic gave the teens time to keep shooting schoolmates. Los Angeles County sheriff's officials have visited Colorado to talk to people involved in the tragedy.

``We went there to try to develop a different training method,'' Wright said. ``We knew it had to be changed.''

More than 100 teens signed up to help create a realistic scene. Palmdale Playhouse staffer Tony Moore used theatrical makeup to make teens look like gunshot victims.

In each training session, the officers first spent an hour in the school library watching training videos and news clips of school shootings. They were outfitted with face masks and pistols that fire pellets loaded with paint.

Split into teams, the officers were given different scenarios. Some involved multiple gunmen or ambushes of the officers.

The officers didn't know what the gunmen looked like and had to be guided through the campus to their location by listening for gunfire and by information provided by the teen ``victims.'' Their clues included the gunshot makeup, which showed the deputies whether they were looking for a gunman armed with a shotgun, a rifle or a small-caliber pistol.

The teen volunteers included sheriff's Explorers, Palmdale Regional Occupation Program teens, Highland High School Junior ROTC cadets, Palmdale High student leaders and Boy Scouts.

Some of the youngsters were supposed to distract or mislead deputies on the ``contact'' team, such as by trying to get them to help ``wounded'' friends when the deputies were supposed to be hunting the gunman or gunmen.

A second team of deputies - the rescue team - was assigned to follow the first team to drag the wounded to safety.

``The confusion and the noise is a very real problem,'' Wright said.

The officers gathered after each training session to discuss shortcomings noticed by observers.

CHP officers and deputies trained together so that they will know how to interact if a school shooting occurs.

``When a (CHP officer) meets a deputy on campus, one can say, 'Let's form a contact team,' and the other knows what he's talking about,'' Wright said. ``Because if something like this happens, all law enforcement agencies, all first responders, will come to assist.''

Palmdale city employees observed the training as part of devising city procedures for assisting law enforcement.

The city of Palmdale's public safety office provided lunch and snacks for the teen volunteers, who spent hours lying outside in the rain or huddled under desks in classrooms.

Businesses and the Palmdale sheriff's station booster club donated prizes raffled off hourly to volunteers. Wright said he hopes to have even more prizes for next year to thank the volunteers for their assistance.

Greg Botonis, [phone]

gregory.botonis(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Sheriff's deputies and CHP officers practice for a potential school shooting situation at Palmdale High School, where students are on winter break.

(2 -- 3) Above, people portraying shooters in the forces' training enter the school's cafeteria as a girl posing as a victim lies on the floor. Above left, students who volunteered to play roles in the drill take cover under a table.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer