An active shooter drill got real at an Indiana elementary school in January when law enforcement reportedly shot teachers with plastic pellets that left bruises and welts.
Two Meadowlawn Elementary School teachers, who wished to remain unnamed, confirmed the incident in Monticello, according to the Indianapolis StarThursday. One of the teachers described being hit “four times.”
“During active shooter drill, four teachers at a time were taken into a room, told to crouch down and were shot execution style with some sort of projectiles – resulting in injuries to the extent that welts appeared, and blood was drawn,” Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) tweeted Wednesday, though it did not name a specific school.
ISTA said in another tweet that teachers were allegedly told not to tell anybody about the incident.
The two teachers said there was no warning about getting shot at the voluntary training session, the Star reported. They were, however, given paintball masks as a precaution for various scenarios.
The White County Sheriff’s Department led the training. It will discontinue using an airsoft gun after receiving a complaint, according to the Star.
The plastic pellets had diameters of 4.6 mm.
“It’s a soft, round projectile,” White County Sheriff Bill Brooks said, the Star reported. “The key here is ‘soft.’”
ISTA Uniserv Director Barbara Deardorff said the incident that occurred was “not the normal practice,” according to the Star.
“Recently the Twin Lakes Classroom Teachers Organization voiced questions regarding how the Sheriff’s Department conducted ALICE [Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate] training, and Twin Lakes facilitated a meeting with the Association and the Sheriff’s Department to collaboratively discuss these matters,” Twin Lakes School Corporation said in a statement to The Daily Caller News Foundation.
ISTA Director of Government Relations Gail Zeheralis asked state lawmakers to add language to House Bill 1004 to prohibit such situations, according to the Indiana newspaper. The current bill does not specify the kind of active shooter training conducted, but it requires the drill to be done at least once a year.
“What we’re looking for is just a simple statement in this bill that would prohibit the shooting of some type of projectile at staff in an active shooter drill,” Zeheralis said.
The White County Sheriff’s Department, ISTA and ALICE Training Institute did not immediately respond to TheDCNF’s requests for comment.
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