Did you notice a dozen police cars near the Seminole Towne Center in Sanford Sunday night?

The Sanford Police Department and the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office held an active shooting drill after the shopping center closed.

During the drill, a 911 call was placed and teams of police officers from several agencies responded. Police officers also practiced securing each store and moving volunteers to safety.

Teams of officers swarm into the Seminole Towne Center responding to a potential shooter on mall grounds.

This was just a drill, but an elaborate one that involved more than 50 Seminole County deputies, Sanford police officers and Sanford rescue crews.

During Sunday’s training, officers went over different scenarios and how to coordinate with mall security if an active shooter was on mall grounds.

“In general what happens is that they do work with us continually, like for example when we have incidents, maybe thefts, things of that nature they have contacts, we have a point of contact out here we have floor plans,” said Sanford police investigator Ronny Neal.

Unfortunately, Sanford police say shootings at malls are happening more frequently, so having drills like this one help them prepare for potential shooters.

Back in January a man shot and killed a man, wounded his wife, then turned the gun on himself at the Melbourne Square Mall food court.

“Something like this can happen and potentially I know a lot of times that with us being in law enforcement, citizens they don’t want to think about this," said Neal. "They don’t want to think about going to an establishment like this that there is a possibility that things can happen, but the truth in the matter is that it can and we want to be prepared so that we can help the citizens.”

Sanford police say this is a collaborative effort with Seminole County officials to practice and exercise their response plans and procedures. During the drill, teams attended to dozens of wounded people, even a wounded officer.

Police officers also moved volunteers to safely.

“The training specifically is for your first responders like patrol operations so predominately what you have out here today is the officers that are patrolling your streets," said Neal.

This is the first time an active shooting drill has been held with multiple agencies at the Seminole Towne Center.

The drill lasted about two hours to make the experience as realistic as possible.