Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies participated in various training exercises at a local school Thursday, enabling the deputies to get “hands-on” training on a campus now empty due to school not being in session.

Here’s more of the story from the station’s social media:

“Prepare for the unexpected. It’s something no one likes to think about — but in light of incidents that have occurred on a nationwide scale in recent years — SCV Sheriff’s deputies continuously train for active shooter scenarios.

“The skills they sharpen not only can be applied to an active shooter in a school setting, but to any public area, or situation that may arise.

“Deputy Mike Sellers, who oversees and arranges the trainings, recognizes the importance of deputies participating in the reenactment of active shooter scenarios so that if a situation should arise, deputies can act without hesitation and respond immediately.

“In some of the training exercises, deputies role play what to do if they are a ‘lone responder.’ Basically what that means, is if they are the only deputy on scene when there is an active shooter —the steps they would take in the first few crucial seconds to tactically locate the ‘active shooter,’ saving lives.

“To those who may be alarmed at the talk of active shooter trainings — just remember an active shooter incident is highly unlikely to occur, but think of it like earthquake prep. Earthquakes may be a rare occurrence in SCV, but nonetheless, we take steps to make sure we have a plan and an earthquake emergency kit because we don’t know when the next one will happen.

“When it comes to public safety and protecting our citizens, we are committed to always being ‘one step ahead’ and ready to respond — no matter what the emergency may be.”