Sheriff Pope’s Message of the Week on Friday 3/13/2026 with Lt. Bret Willey

Lyon County NV – March 13, 2026

This week, Supervisors, Deputies, SWAT Operators, and Dispatchers from the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office attended an Active Shooter Incident Management (ASIM) course instructed by FEMA. The ASIM course is a 3-day simulation training that stress-tests emergency and Law Enforcement agencies in active shooter / hostile event planning and critical incident command management. Lieutenant Bret Willey shared the following:

Along with Sheriff’s Office personnel, members of the Central Lyon County Fire Protection District, Mason Valley Fire Protection District, Smith Valley Fire Protection District, Lyon County Office of Emergency Management, Lyon County Juvenile Probation, and Battle Born Medevac also attended the training.

Attendees were given instructions on Incident Command scenarios involving active shootings in public areas, such as schools, airports, and shopping centers. This training has been certified by the National Tactical Officers’ Association (NTOA) as the national standard for responding to active shooter incidents. During the course, LCSO Supervisors and Deputies were placed into multiple roles within an Incident Command structure, such as Incident Commander, Tactical Commander, Public Information Officer (PIO) Supplies and Logistics Officers, and Crisis Response Teams.

During each incident Deputies were presented with an active shooter scenario and in partnership with Emergency Management and Fire District Personnel, all had to work through not only the initial response by Deputies but also the coordination of rescue teams, paramedics, air medevac assets and county emergency management assets. The training scenarios placed Deputies and

Supervisors in unfamiliar roles to help them gain an idea of the various levels of responsibility that are presented in such incidents.

For many of the Deputies and Supervisors this was the first time they had to handle so many outside agencies and support personnel.

Active shooting and active assailant incidents are extremely complex, volatile, and can change rapidly. This type of realistic training is crucial for Law Enforcement, and other first responders, as they can pressure test their current response plans to better prepare for an actual incident. Sheriff’s Office personnel were grateful to be a part of this critical training.

The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Lyon County Office of Emergency Management for scheduling and supporting this training. As Law Enforcement professionals, we hope never to have to respond to such an incident but with the help of our first responder partners, we stand ready should that day ever come.

Respectfully,

Sheriff Brad Pope