Pierce County announced Wednesday that after the Tacoma Mall closes on the night of Fri., Aug. 12, the Tacoma Police Department and Pierce County Emergency Management will coordinate an Active Shooter/Bomb/Hostage full-scale exercise in and around the mall. The exercise is expected to begin at 10 p.m. and end around 2 a.m. The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate the ability of multiple agencies to work together in an active shooter and improvised explosive device incident, including the ability to communicate across all agencies and to incorporate mall security into the response plan. Participating agencies and teams include the Tacoma Police Department’s Primary Call Responders, SWAT, Bomb Team, and the Mobile Command Unit; Tacoma Fire Department; Pierce County Department of Emergency Management; Pierce County Sheriff’s Department’s SWAT, Bomb Team, and Aviation Unit; Metro SWAT; Pierce Transit; LESA Communications; Washington State Patrol; and, Tacoma Mall Management and Security. A Homeland Security grant partially funded this exercise.