SANDPOINT — A vital feature is being constructed across the mosaic of law enforcement agencies in northern Idaho and eastern Washington.

Ten of the agencies took part this week local first-responder active shooter training to address the fact that such an incident would draw in officers from multiple agency regardless of where it occurs.

“This enables us to put everyone in the same room to work on some of the same tactics,” said Undersheriff Ror Lakewold.

Hosted by the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office, the one- and two-day courses combined classroom training with practical scenarios where the academic lessons are put to use. The training blends Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training and Federal Law Enforcement Training Center guidance on responding to active shooter incidents.

The combination of ALERRT and FLETC training programs exposes officers to a broader variety of tactics for safely sweeping a building in search of a threat.

“We kind of combined portions of each of those together to come up with the overall presentation. They’re actually very, very close with some slight variations,” said Pend Orelle County Sheriff’s Sgt. Glenn Blakeslee.

Lakewold said a four-man team conducting a sweep of a hallway, for instance, has a member that covers the team’s back. But there are slight variations on how that can be done, depending on the officers’ preferences.

“There’s different formations that just inspire thought to make sure they have their options on the table to work as safely and efficiently as possible,” said Lakewold.

However, all of the various tactics are similar enough to establish a fairly uniform baseline officers can work from during a shooting incident.

Deputies from the Bonner County and Pend Oreille county sheriff’s offices, in addition to officers from the cities of Newport, Ponderay, Priest River and Sandpoint, received training. Officers from the U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Forest Service and Kalispel Tribe also took part in the training.

All told, at least 65 officers took part in the training, including about 90 percent of Bonner County’s patrol deputies, according to the underesheriff.

Lakewold said all agencies conduct active shooter training, sometimes with one or two fellow agencies. However, it’s the first time Bonner County has participated in such a training program with this many players.

The training scenarios underscore the swift, chaotic and confusing nature of an active shooter incident.

A scenario observed by the media on Wednesday showed officers methodically plodding with guns drawn down a highway in silence. In the process of clearing an empty room, shots ring in a room on the other side of the hallway and several hostages emerge with hands raised, followed by an armed assailant. The threat is neutralized in a brief gunbattle, although one of the supposed hostages re-enters the hallway behind the fire team to ambush it, but is also neutralized.

The scenarios involved various types of simulated ammunition, such as plastic and rubber BBs, in addition to paintball rounds which indicate if an officer was on target or was hit with incoming fire.

The compressed air-powered weapons have the heft and mechanics of real-world pistols and rifles. Blakeslee said the idea is to make the training scenarios as realistic as possible.

The scenarios also ride the line of being challenging without being impossible.

“We want them to be able to solve the situation, to be successful and have the right outcome. But at the same time we want them to be challenging,” he said. “It’s straightforward, but it’s challenging.”

Meanwhile, Bonner County Sheriff’s Capt. Tim Hemphill took officers through the paces of methods of breaching doors in a makeshift classroom upstairs. Hemphill’s familiarity with the material was evident in his ability to instruct without referring to notes or the PowerPoint presentation playing behind him.

The training was conducted in the former Calvary Chapel building across the street from the Bonner County Administration Building

The training also exposes the officers to stress they would encounter while responding to an active shooter incident.

“It’s something we have to expose them to. If they’ve been here and they’ve done this, the next time they’re exposed to that they do better,” said Blakeslee.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.