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Anne Arundel Co. Police Hold Training Exercise

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- What if an armed man entered the Annapolis Courthouse?  The Anne Arundel County Sheriff's Office used a training exercise Monday to prepare for that scenario.

Adam May has a look at the simulation.

This training exercise is modeled after real-life tragedies, such as the massacre at Virginia Tech.

A team of Anne Arundel County sheriff's deputies descended on the VIP Parking Garage at the County Courthouse.  They were learning how to respond to a shooting.

"This situation is active shooter training.  An active shooter doesn't have the luxury of calling in a SWAT team.  It's right here, right now," said Sheriff Ronald Bateman.

And extremely realistic.  Two deputies played the bad guys and the others tried to take them down.

Armed deputies dressed in protective gear fired away. They used simulated rounds that travel extremely fast.

"You get hit in the arms...it'll break skin and you'll bleed a little but it's worth it," said Deputy Don Micheletti, who was shot multiple times.

All nine of the scenarios included a victim who was crying out in pain.  It's a distraction and a lesson in priorities.

"When you have an active shooter, you need to get them as soon as possible or more people are going to die," said Deputy Michelle Goodman.

Deputies learned they're no help if they're killed themselves.

Bateman said the training went extremely well, but he hopes they never have to use these skills in real life.

Monday's training lasted four hours.

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