“What was really nice today is that we could bring all of those together in a big exercise to make sure that they all work together very well,” university spokesperson Kent Cassella said.

The scenario involved a shooting in Conrad Hall’s auditorium, which began at about 9 a.m.

After blank shots were fired, more than a dozen volunteers in orange and yellow vests ran from the building, playing a classroom of students fleeing the scene. Police worked to secure and control the situation, directing the actors and paramedics to those who needed help, as the downpour of rain in the morning added an extra element to the simulation.

About five emergency vehicles, including Lansing and Meridian fire ambulances, arrived on scene, lights flashing. Paramedics brought out stretchers, and victims were wheeled to the vehicles.

As police worked to control the situation, Cassella and McGlothian-Taylor met with actors playing media and updated them on the situation about every half hour.

Because the simulation was meant to give practice for all areas of the police force, both Cassella and McGlothian-Taylor learned details about the situation as police gave it to them, but did not know the information prior to the updates they gave to the media. By 10:45 a.m., Cassella informed the media that in the simulation, four individuals were dead — three students and one professor — and four had been injured. One of the students who died was identified as the shooter. Cassella said the four injured were transported to Sparrow Hospital.

MSU police had identified the simulated shooter by 9:09 a.m. and had shot and killed him.

To prevent members of the MSU community from believing the exercise to be real, MSU Alert sent out a release about the full-scale simulation.

“During this exercise, first responders and other resources will be deployed as if an actual incident was occurring. Do not be alarmed,” the release stated.

McGlothian-Taylor said MSU police received good feedback about the simulation, and because there were officials from various emergency departments, it gave them a chance to work with individuals outside of MSU.

“We think things went well,” McGlothian-Taylor said. “But, of course, nothing’s perfect. That’s what the idea of the exercise was — to (get experience.)”

Cassella said the university will continue to plan simulations on both the department and countywide levels to ensure they are always ready for a variety of emergency scenarios.

“That’s what we do — we plan these, and we practice them, and we hope and pray we’ll never have to use them,” he said.