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Eight elementary school teachers who were shot ‘execution style' with airsoft guns during an active shooter drill last year are suing the sheriff's department who conducted the training for physical and emotional trauma.
The educators, from Meadowlawn Elementary School, had undertaken ALICE training from the White County Sheriff's Office in January 2019 when they say they were left 'bruised, bloodied and traumatized' by the supervising officers.
ALICE training - which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate - teaches people to respond to a school shooter and take on a proactive role, Indicator learning counter actions, instead of the traditional duck-and-cover.
The lawsuit, filed last week in Indiana's northern federal court by Nicole Baltes, Jeanne Franks, Abby Hare, Breanne Paulik, Talaina Pinkerton, Darcy Slade, Danielle Snyder, and Carrie Zook, claims the officers subjected them to ‘verbal threats, expletives and screaming'.
The plaintiffs also say they were struck numerous times with plastic pellets fired from airsoft guns, often from 'point-blank range'.
‘The teachers displayed obvious signs of anguish and physical pain, but were humiliated to find the law enforcement officers joking and laughing at them,' the lawsuit reads.
‘The terrifying and inexplicable experience left the teachers with lasting physical and emotional injuries.'
Meadowlawn Elementary School teachers Abby Hare and Darcy Slade (left, and center) were reportedly so traumatized from the incident they quit teaching. Carrie Zook (right) also described being left traumatized after the incident
Nicole Baltes (left) claims she was shot forcefully in the stomach, and, hoping to avoid being shot again, she crawled under a table and curled up in the fetal position. Danielle Snyder said she was emotionally changed as a teacher and now experiences elevated levels of fear and anxiety while doing her job.
(pictured right is fellow teacher Breanne Paulik)
The educators, from Meadowlawn Elementary School (above), had received what's called ALICE training from the White County Sheriff's Office in January last year when they were left bruised, bloodied and traumatized by the supervising officers.
ALICE training is an ‘options-based' approached to active shooter preparation that encourages educators and students to be proactive in their responses to a gunman on campus (file photo)
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox floatRHS news" data-version="2" id="mol-a74f8e40-e720-11ea-a786-a18905fb4525" website shot 'execution style' by sheriff's in shooter drill sue
