Live gunfire during Lockdown training

They thought they were in the middle of a training session, and that's when it happened -- when the supposed gunman barged in and started firing. The Phillipsburg elementary level teachers soon found out their training session was a training drill for local police to analyze school security. On Monday night, they talked to the school board about it. WFMZ's Jackie Shutack reports. You can imagine the shock and horror they faced...these teachers understand the necessity of a safety drill... but they want to know why they weren't forewarned about an exercise of this nature.

Behind the walls of the Phillipsburg Early Learning Center, at least 60 teachers sat in a training session two weeks ago, in the school library. An ordinary in service day, they thought...

Arlene Levine/1st Grade Teacher: "All of a sudden it comes over the loudspeaker, the building is under lockdown, the building is under lockdown."

Debbie Carty/4th Grade Teacher: "All of a sudden the door opened up, this scruffy looking guy was at the door in dirty clothes, swearing, throwing papers in the room, and firing a gun!"

Arlene Levine/1st Grade Teacher: "The girl next to me was hysterical crying, you heard people crying, sobbing, praying."

Reporter: At tonight's Phillipsburg school board meeting, Superintendent George Chando told the teachers that the point of the drill was to evaluate the security readiness in the district. School Board President Paul Rummerfield says this is the third drill of its kind in the past year.

Paul Rummerfield/School Board President: "I think what the school district learned is that we have to do a better job preparing the drill and notifying our teachers and staff as to what to expect."

Reporter: Teachers' Union President Barbara English agrees that drills are necessary in today's world.

Barbara English /Phillipsburg Education Association: "What I really want the school board to do is give us advanced notice, and make sure that we're trained in the ways that we're going to be doing drills." Jackie Shutack

Many of the teachers who were in the room during this security training are now getting help from professional counselors.

Source:
http://wfmz.com/view/?id=385954