OLDHAM COUNTY, Ky. — Around two dozen police officers, teachers and community members are learning what to do in the event of an active shooter situation.

The group is receiving ALICE Training thanks to the Oldham County Police Department, which brought in a team of instructors to conduct the two-day course this week.

Navigate360 offers the training, and the acronym stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evaluate. It’s taught to groups nationwide by certified instructors, like Ken Thaxter, who’s also a retired police officer of 28 years.

“We go through a class where they can see everything, they can kind of listen to it, they do online training prior, then the hear they class and actually do it,” Thaxter said.

The training is split between lectures, homework and scenarios that simulate an active shooter. Participants use what they’ve learned to act quickly, either taking cover, running away, or even fighting back with whatever is nearby.

One exercise involved someone having a firearm in a classroom. With no warning, the shooter began firing simulated bullets — in this case foam balls — at the participants. Everything was over in about ten seconds.

“We just want to make the point that these things can happen so fast,” Thaxter said. “I mean, in that last scenario, the police, 911, was never called.”

This training was brought to Oldham County after the police department realized there wasn’t anything like this offered nearby. Among the over two dozen attendees were three Oldham County officers, two of which work in schools.

Once they complete the course, those officers will be able to teach the training to others in the community. 

“Learn some techniques that you can implement to keep yourself and your family, coworkers, friends safe,” Major Scott Crigler with the Oldham County Police Department said.

ALICE Training courses are open to anyone who is interested. Crigler says they will look at possibly offering more of these courses in the future.