Mansfield Police Department hostage negotiator Dave Scheurer, left, talks with the “actors” in a school bus hostage training drill. From left are MPD Sgt. Matt Loughman; MPD dispatcher Krista Sonnhalter and MDP crime analyst Eric Schaaf.
A Mansfield City Schools bus took center stage Friday morning as the Mansfield Police Department conducted a bus hostage training drill on the Richland County Fairgrounds.
Approximately 30 law enforcement personnel, included SWAT officers, participated.
“We’re training for a situation that, hopefully, we will never have,” said MPD hostage negotiator Dave Scheurer.
“In a hostage situation we would assess the situation and then focus on two things: time, which we have plenty of, and talking to deescalate things and get everyone off the bus safely.”
Mansfield City Schools Superintendent Brian Garverick was on the scene.
“We were glad to provide a bus for today’s training. We hope our officers never to have to utilize it but we appreciate that they are prepared,” Garverick said.
Serving as actors on the bus were MPD Sgt. Matt Loughman; MPD dispatcher Krista Sonnhalter and MDP crime analyst Eric Schaaf.