CSUN Campus Conducts Shooting Drill

NORTHRIDGE (CBSLA.com) — A campus shooting drill took place on the grounds of Cal State University, Northridge Thursday morning.

More than 150 officers from several local agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Unified School District Police, California Highway Patrol, as well as deputies from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department joined CSUN police officers in an exercise designed to test their coordinated response to a shooting on campus.

The fifth annual exercise took place from 7 a.m. to noon at the CSUN's Center on Deafness. Portions of the campus will be sealed off.

Officers said last week's Newtown, Conn. shootings made the drill painfully important.

"We're protecting 36,000 students on this campus, faculty and staff and we have to be ready for that type of situation that we hope never comes," Chief Anne Glavin of Cal State Northridge Police said. "It's very tough to lock down an university campus. They're very porous, and the streets surrounding the campus go right into the neighborhoods."

In the last two years, there have been two incidents where a CSUN student was believed to be armed and could potentially pose a threat to themselves or others, officials said.

No students were harmed in either instance.

Last week, similar emergency procedures were put in place on the campus of California State University, Fullerton as police chased five robbery suspects through and around campus.

Emergency alert texts and emails, as well as a speaker system were used to alert students and staff of the threat.

The incident ended without any shots fired on campus.