VCU Police run active shooter threat trainings on campus

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- VCU Police says communication is key to mitigating threats on campus, like the one that took two lives at Brown University over the weekend.

To stay prepared for shooting threats, the police department held two active threat trainings on campus on Dec. 17.

"It's an unfortunate reality of the world that we live in, that we have to be prepared for these in case they do come up," said VCU Police Chief Clarence Hunter Jr.

To prepare, the department simulates exactly what they would do if shots were fired on campus.

The realistic exercise began with one of the department's detectives playing the shooter, and firing a weapon in the campus's dining center.

After that, the campus's alert system went into effect, including sending texts to those signed up for VCU Alerts.

Law enforcement then entered the building to neutralize the shooter and treat any victims.

According to the Associated Press, there have been four deadly shootings on U.S. college campuses in 2025. The latest, on Dec. 13 on the campus of Brown University, killed two, including a Midlothian High alum.

Chief Hunter said he wants VCU and its surrounding community to know the department is prepared to handle a threat.

"The thing we can do on the police side is when they occur, no matter where they occur in the United States, is to make sure our training is correct, that our policies are correct," Chief Hunter said. "And that we are [at the] same level of training with our local partners."

VCU Police holds these trainings multiple times a year, sometimes with those local partners in the Richmond Police Department and Virginia State Police.