CLAREMORE -- It's training that could save your life. Claremore police showed a local church how to be prepared if an active shooter entered the building.
You're supposed to hear songs, prayer and faith inside a church. You're not supposed to hear gunfire.
"You hear the people walking and coming and then he shoots the floor like you just got shot," First United Methodist Church member Laurie Ault said.
The church is ready if an active shooter walks through the door.
“We have had one or two occasions where scary instances have happened," Ault said.
The church called the Claremore Police Department six weeks ago and asked for the training.
“The church should be open to everybody and you want everybody in your church and you want them to worship God," church member Greg Partney said. "You never think you'd have to protect yourself in a church.”
The participants went through five different real-life scenarios. It left some scared and others clinging.
“A few people cried and it is a reality even though they know it’s not real, you hear the gunshots coming down the hallway and you’re just waiting or you know that your friend just got shot," Claremore police officer James Sutton said.
Black rifle cartridges were scattered through the hall of the church.
“You can smell the fumes," Ault said. “You don’t think in your everyday life you’ll have to deal with it.”
More than 40 people were in various rooms across the church, anxious as they awaited for the shooter. They were taught to remember three words: run, hide and fight.
For now, members are praying they’ll continue to only hear the music and have the training for back up.
