Indiana Teachers Hurt by Plastic Pellets as Part of Active Shooter Training

Some teachers at an elementary school in Indiana were hurt during an active shooter drill when they were shot with plastic pellets.

In January, during an exercise at Meadowlawn Elementary School in Monticello, law enforcement agents from the local sheriff's office staged a number of scenarios involving a hypothetical gunman. During one of them, says an Indianapolis Star report, teachers were told to kneel facing a classroom wall and were fired upon with no notice while their backs were turned.

Some teachers were bleeding from the pellets, while others had welts and bruises during the ALICE training incident, says the report.

The sheriff of White County, which held the drill, said they have stopped using airsoft guns in the training, the Star reported. The plastic pellets they used are 4.6 mm in diameter, but Sheriff Bill Brooks emphasized the "key word is soft" in describing the projectile.

The incident came to light recently as the Indiana state government considered a bill (House Bill 1004) that would expand the state's grant program that gives funds to schools to improve security measures. The proposed bill, which has passed the House, requires an annual active shooter drill and provides Indiana schools access to funds for mental health services.

The Indiana State Teachers Association is lobbying lawmakers to add language to the bill that would prohibit teachers from being shot with any sort of ammunition.