CANYON, TEXAS -- A potentially deadly scene in Canyon at the West Texas A&M University campus as dozens of law enforcement officials swarm a building with a reported gunman inside.
It's all staged as a training exercise so officers will be able to judge how they'll respond if the situation ever arises.
It's very obvious its not just an ordinary day as a building is fenced off and all day long, officers in full protective gear and with guns drawn are going in... preparing to deal with a lone gunman who has opened fire.
For this training exercise, the end result is worth more than the sum of the parts, according to WTAMU Police Chief, Shawn Burns
"We acknowledge this is a very real threat and it's important to us and other department, obviosuly we have a lot of officers committed today and to go through this exerecise."
The training is reviewed and they determine the good and bad points, and those involved say they become caught up in it, and it's about as real as it gets.
"Going through and hearing all the sires and the sound of gunfire, it's very realistic. You can easily get caught up in it and it's one of the things were trained on to control our breathing and control the situation, stay in constant contact with each other," said Texas Highway Patrolman, Jered Snelgrooes.
It's a unique chance for these officers to prepare for an event they hope they never have to act upon.
"It would be great if we trained for something we never have to deploy on, but that's is our fear," said Burns.
Snelgrooes added, "But if it does happen, we feel we have the training and we can go in."
A completely different type of classroom learning where the subject being studied can't just be learned from a book.
