Training exercise at College of San Mateo lead to false reports of shooter

Police quickly initiated the standard protocol for a potential active-shooter situation, Community Relations Officer Jeanine Luna said. Officers were immediately dispatched, the department’s real-time information center was activated, a nearby drone was deployed and medics were on standby. 

Campus security told police that they had “not observed anything unusual” and the College of San Mateo’s police academy staff confirmed no training exercises were scheduled, Luna said. 

There was ultimately no merit to the threat; personnel of the Atherton and Redwood City police departments were conducting a mass-casualty training with medics on-site, Luna said.

Advance notification was not provided to college staff, students, campus security or the San Mateo Police Department, and training signs were not posted on campus, Luna said. 

The training took place in Building 12 in the middle of the campus as part of a “normal program activity” connected to the college’s Emergency Medical Technician education program, David McLain, executive director of Community and Government Relations for the community college district, said. 

While the district is aware that training like this occurs as part of the EMT program, “broadly speaking,” it was not made aware of this instance in particular, McLain said. 

“There was an unintentional break in protocol by failing to notify College Public Safety and campus administration of this particular exercise,” McLain said. 

Typically, once administration is made aware that a training like this is slated to occur, a notice would go out campuswide, McLain said. 

Both the community college district and the San Mateo Police Department are reviewing how the training exercise was coordinated to ensure strong notification protocol and communication going forward. 

Realistic training scenarios can “understandably cause concern when those nearby are not aware they are taking place,” Luna said. 

“While this situation turned out to be a training exercise, the concerns it raised were real and we understand that,” Luna said. “We want our San Mateo community to know that we train regularly for critical incidents and remain committed to responding quickly, effectively and with great care.”