TROY — The Troy City Schools worked closely with the Troy Police Department to conduct an active shooter training for district employees on Monday, Oct. 10.

“Obviously it is our deepest hope that we never have to use this training, but we still want to be prepared for the worst-possible scenario,” Troy City Schools Superintendent Chris Piper said in a press release. “The safety of our students and staff will always be our top priority. I can’t thank Capt. Jeff Kunkleman and the members of his department enough for putting this program together. I think it was valuable for our staff members to see and be a part of this. Again, we hope and pray it never happens, but we want to be prepared in case it does.”

The training was held at Troy High School, with the Troy Police Department running through a number of possible scenarios staff members may face in an active shooter situation.

“I think it’s very important,” Kunkleman said of Monday’s training, in the release. “We have tried really hard to bring new ideas on safety as far as these terrible active threat situations, and actually being able to go through some scenarios and see what these situations can look like means a lot. I thought it went really well. Everybody participated; there was a lot of active participation, and I think that’s what we are looking for. I think everybody takes something away from it.”

According to the Center for Defense and Homeland Security’s K-12 School Shooting Database, there have been 1,967 school shootings since 1970. There were a record 250 shootings in 2021, the highest number since the CDHS started tracking those numbers, and have been 231 so far this year.