After the mass shooting on Wednesday in Florida, the question of law enforcement preparedness is on many people’s minds.

In the event of a shooting, Austin Police Capt. David McKichan said law enforcement has the dual role of trying to end the threat and to get people medical assistance as soon as possible. Other emergency responders, such as the fire department, Gold Cross Ambulance Service and Mayo Clinic Health System, also have emergency plans in place for mass casualty events.

“We think about and prepare for a lot more scenarios that may cause mass casualties because we want to be ready to handle it,” he said. “We have a great partnership with other regional emergency responders. We don’t want to see it happen, but we will be prepared for it if it does.”

McKichan said law enforcement tries to learn from situations like Wednesday’s shooting,

“There is no immediacy to what we know because incidents like that take time to investigate,” he said. “When it gets to a point, we do see some of these things come up in training. The opportunity is there to learn from prior events, but we won’t get those lessons until later when everything is better understood.”

McKichan said if anyone suspects something or sees something suspicious to call the Mower County Law Enforcement Center at 507-437-9400.

For those that are experiencing thoughts of hurting themselves or others, McKichan urges them to call Crisis Response for Southeast Minnesota at 1-844-274-7472. You can speak to a mental health practitioner or professional or arrange for a mobile response, where a mental health practitioner can come to a location that you are comfortable with to speak to you. They will do a risk assessment and make referrals as needed. You may also call on behalf of someone else; however, mobile responses are voluntary. Mobile responses done by Crisis Response for Southeast Minnesota is billed to insurance; however, if your insurance does not cover it or if you do not have insurance, the cost is covered through a grant from the state.