Answers ranged from, ‘we arrived and responded as a tactical SWAT unit’, from the Calusa County Sheriff’s Office, to, ‘by the time we got here, it was all over and we just helped with traffic’, from the Lake Wales Police Department. They all met in the offices of the parish hall at the church as parents and teachers from the school began to filter out and make their way home. It would serve as a temporary command post until a mobile unit was brought in. There were numerous departments involved, plus the school board sent their internal police. Thiery delegated assignments to each department, based on their involvement, and dismissed those representatives from departments with little to no involvement. He requested reports from all in attendance, then asked Chief Dunham to head the interviews with the families of survivors and victims. Though he didn’t say it aloud, he felt Dunham had a natural compassion that made people more comfortable talking to him.
