Ocean County emergency response drill successfull

An "active shooter" drill in Jackson went "remarkably well" on Wednesday morning according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, which co-ordinated the event.

The Jackson Premium Outlet was the site of the drill, which involved about 20 law enforcement personnel who arrived at the outlets and responded to "incidents" at the Levi store and a toy store, according to spokesman Al Della Fave.

Officers worked with the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department, Jackson Police Department and the New Jersey State Police who went through a series of response training scenarios. Della Fave said all the agencies involved worked to co-ordinate their efforts despite having different training and also "gelled well" with the Outlets security team who had the facility on lockdown when they arrived.

Della Fave says the drill was contained to the property of the Outlets' large facility and no calls were received from commuters on Route 571 or 537 concerned about what was going. The drill was wrapped up by 9:30 a.m.

The rain added to the realism of the drill as did several employees of the Prosecutor's Office who acted as shoppers and store employees.

Jackson Police used the Outlets for a training excercise "some years ago" according to Della Fave.