Firefighters and Police conduct training drill at Goshen High School

GOSHEN, Ind. – Students and teachers at Goshen High School participated in a training drill conducted by the Goshen Fire and Police Departments which prepares them for active shooter situations.

During the drill, groups of people had paint on their skin posing as “bad guys” and the participants were coached through several scenarios.

Goshen High School Principal Barry Younghans was at the training drill and he says this is something the school needs to practice.

“We think it’s important for our teachers to know how they’d respond,” Principal Younghans said. “You can’t respond for something you don’t train for. For years and years we did fire drills, it became second nature. You hear the fire alarm, you get up and leave the building. This is just another one of those things you have to practice it at least in your mind before how you know you’re going to react in the real situation.”

Goshen Mayor Jeremy Stutzman also spoke about the drill and how it will improve preparedness.

“It’s something I wish wasn’t a reality in our country but we do want to do all we can to be prepared and these trainings are a huge part of that for our police and fire department,” Mayor Stutzman said.

No projectiles were used during this drill in order to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the exercise.

None of the students were involved in the active shooter simulations.

Additional personnel from the departments remained on duty so that the drill could be carried out.

In total, around 15 to 20 police cars, 5 fire trucks, and 4 ambulances were used to simulate an active shooter response.