LOUISVILLE - If it's possible for something to be both inspiring and unsettling, that was the scene at LMPD’s training facility Thursday night.

"Tonight is about hoping the houses of worship in our community do what they can to try to minimize the risk of being the next scene of a tragic mass shooting," Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad said.

The department hosted a three hour active shooter workshop for church leaders. Enrollment was capped around 160, but we were told of even more people waiting outside, hoping to hear a new message about how to protect their flock.

"My primary purpose is to educate them so they’re equipped to handle a situation, hopefully, before it walks in the building," Said Ron Aguiar. He hosted the forum, and founded Oasis Safety, a company specializing in training church security personnell. "That’s my main purpose tonight, to give them tools if something happens such as an active shooter, how to respond."

The forum comes just two weeks after a man shot two dead at a Jeffersontown Kroger, and then three days later another man shot and killed 11 at a Pittsburgh synagogue.

"The shooter in J-town, of course 10 minutes before he killed two people at a Kroger tried to get into a church," Chief Conrad said solemly. "An hour before he tried to do that, I’m told there was a service ongoing in that church. It could have been a terrible terrible tragedy for our community."

Before those killings, some might think it crazy that a church would need a security presence. However, Sharon Bell came from Saint Stephen Baptist Church, and says they’ve had to deal with visitors in the past who came for the wrong reasons, even though it didn’t escalate to a tragedy.

"We’ve had a couple incidents where people have entered the church and kind of tried to get close to the pastor or other worship leaders," Bell said. "And we didn’t necessarily know how to move them to another location without being rude. We want to stay welcoming but still safe, cuz you never know what people are thinking."

"You want to be there where you can connect and share your faith," Chief Conrad added. "And you should be able to do that in a peaceful setting. You should be able to do that in a safe setting."

Due to the volumn of responses to the forum invitation, LMPD planned a second session for November 29 for those who could not attend the first.