Police in suburban Chicago used airsoft guns to shoot at educators during active shooter training Friday.
The drill, which comes in the wake of numerous recent school shootings, intended to simulate what a real situation would be like.
Big Hollow School District 38 teachers and administrators went through numerous scenarios with the Lake County Sheriff’s office from barricading themselves in a classroom to running from a shooter in the building to stopping and disarming a would-be gunman.
"We're taking those natural responses that you have in a dangerous situation or some type of deadly force situation - the fight, flight or freeze - and turn them into proactive measures that they can use to protect themselves in a deadly force encounter,” said Sgt. Kyle Brown with the sheriff’s office.
The educators were taught the ALICE method, authorities said, which stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate. The sheriff’s office said it is teaching the method not just in schools, but in businesses and places of worship as well.
Teachers said they were shaken but many said they left feeling empowered.
"It was very intense, there were people that were in tears and my heart was pounding, but I think it was time well spent,” said participant Sophia Mantzoukis.
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Most recently, a gunman opened fire at an Indiana school, critically wounding a student before being tackled by a science teacher who was shot three times in the process.
Before that, 10 people were killed and 13 others wounded in a school shooting in Texas and 17 people were killed in a Valentine’s Day massacre at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
"Unfortunately nowadays it's more than tornadoes that we should be afraid of,” Mantzoukis said.
It’s a situation no teacher wants to be in, but it’s one police in Lake County say they need to be prepared for.
"You're never prepared for a shooting, but I think it's better than what we had so far,” Mantzoukis said.
Police praised the school district for taking steps to brace educators for the unthinkable.
"The teachers, the administrators, the superintendent here at Big Hollow they've answered that call,” Brown said. “They're not going to sit around and wait for legislators to move, they're going to do what they can as far as helping to make sure their children are safe."
