ATLANTA — The Atlanta Police Department said it conducted an active shooter training exercise at the Georgia Aquarium on Wednesday night, in part, to prepare for the FIFA World Cup games coming to the city in June 2026.
‘We’re doing this training all over Atlanta,” Atlanta Deputy Police Chief Kelley Collier said.
Police chose the aquarium this time around because it’s a sensitive, popular tourist spot. Plus, it’s steps away from Centennial Olympic Park.
“During the World Cup, Fan Fest will be right here at Centennial Olympic Park. We’ll have thousands of citizens here visiting our beautiful city,” Deputy Chief Charles Hampton, Jr., told Channel 2’s Courtney Francisco.
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Police, fire, and paramedics are holding mass casualty exercises in the areas they will be patrolling during the FIFA games.
They are looking for weak spots in their emergency response plans, such as radio communication dead zones and equipment, and first-aid failures.
“There’s an opportunity for a debrief to really critique what went well, what went wrong,” Hampton said.
Last Fall, MARTA police practiced responding to an emergency in a crowded rail station where fans will take trains to the games.
Police have already held an exercise at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the soccer teams will play.
Later this year, they plan to practice at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where visitors will fly in for the World Cup.
“We want to ensure that we’re doing everything possible to save lives,” Collier said.
Police said they are also using the new public safety training center to practice. They can mimic or recreate spots like the aquarium.
However, they said they need to test that in the real world to know if there are any failures in the field that need to be fixed ahead of time.
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