The shootings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge have prompted Texarkana, Texas, police to train for an active shooter situation.
"The idea for this was driven by the incidents in Dallas and Baton Rouge. We hope we never have anything like that in Texarkana, but we have a responsibility to train our officers," said Shawn Vaughn, spokesman for the TTPD.
"Officers will be placed in situations similar to those and others in which they could find themselves. The training will involve the use of simulation training rounds," Vaughn said.
The training started last week and is continuing this week and includes both indoor and outdoor training, Vaughn said.
The eight-hour, in-service training classes are required for every officer.
"We are holding it over 10 days, so we can get all our officers in to train and still have officers on the streets," Vaughn said.
Several members of the department attended a training class and are now teaching to other officers.
Vaughn said since the Columbine shooting, there has been a shift in a law officer's perspective on how to deal with such incidents.
"Training before that was focused on containing the area and calling in SWAT. We learned from Columbine that doesn't always work. People were inside being hurt and killed. It requires more training from the first officers on the scene.
"We are doing a shift in our training on how we would deal with something like that," Vaughn said.