WEST ORANGE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Students, teachers, parents and law enforcement took part Tuesday in an “active shooter” drill at a school in West Orange.

The drill at Liberty Middle School was designed to test the response of a dozen law enforcement agencies to a situation similar to last year’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

“The protection of our young people is our highest priority,” West Orange Mayor Robert Parisi said in a statement. “Unfortunately, as we’ve seen in recent years, no school is immune to the possibility of an attack. This is an especially important drill because it increases our effort to provide safe and secure buildings for our students.”