DAYTON — There have been 246 mass shootings in 2022 so far, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
For many of us the reality of this violence has been hard to avoid, and some decided to take a proactive step toward being prepared for an active shooting situation Wednesday night.
“They’re increasing year by year and so people are worried about it,” Ron Strehle, community engagement officer with Dayton Police Department, said.
The numbers back up Strehle’s claim.
In 2019 the Gun Violence Archive said thee was 417 mass shootings in 2019, 610 in 2020 and almost 700 last year.
This violence has kept Strehle busy.
For the past decade, he has led active shooter training for thousands in the Miami Valley.
“I have gotten 40 of these scheduled for businesses over the next six weeks,” he said.
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Wednesday night’s training involved people of all ages.
One woman shared why she attended the training.
“Because of what’s happened in our world and in the United States most recently, especially with all the children that were killed,” Alexis Brun of Butler Township said.
Brun is talking about the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas where 19 children and two teachers were killed.
Sandy Melke of Dayton said she was motivated by her great-granddaughter who went through similar training in school.
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“She couldn’t run very fast, she come home to her mommy and said ‘mommy I’m going to die if they come home to my school,’ had us all in tears,” Melke said.
The class talked about escape plans, finding places to hide and knowing when and how to fight.
Strehle said people need to be prepared.
“I’m not trying to change who they are but if you’ve got this in the back of your mind and ‘maybe this could happen’ you’ll be better off,” he said.
He said due to the large response to Wednesday’s training he is planning to have more of them later this month.