Cullman County Courthouse- Cullman, AL

The outsized publicity attached to sensational mass shootings may not be a great predictor of whether such a thing will ever happen to the average person. But it doesn’t hurt to be prepared — especially if you work in a target-rich environment like a school or government building. That’s where the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office and the Cullman County Commission have stepped in. Local deputies, certified under the national Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate (ALICE) training program, just wrapped a two-day seminar that covered the basics of active shooter survival — and nearly every employee working at the Cullman County Courthouse got the chance to attend. “It’s a program that shows people some options on how to respond and react: how to barricade; how to evacuate; and some of the more ‘active’ things that you can do to improve your chances,” said Lt. Erik Ryan who coordinates the ALICE program through the sheriff’s office. Read more