Indiana elementary school teachers say they were shot “execution style” with painful plastic bullets during a January active shooter training, the IndyStar reports.
“Four teachers at a time were taken into a room, told to crouch down and were shot execution style with some sort of projectiles – resulting in injuries to the extent that welts appeared, and blood was drawn,” the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) tweeted Wednesday.
Other teachers allegedly listened to their colleagues’ screams while they waited for their turn to be brought into the room in groups.
The teachers were terrified, but were told not to tell anyone what happened. Teachers waiting outside that heard the screaming were brought into the room four at a time and the shooting process was repeated.
— Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) (@ISTAmembers) March 20, 2019
These revelations came to light when members of ISTA testified in front of state lawmakers Wednesday in support of HB 1004, a bill that would allow school grants to go towards school-based mental health social-emotional wellness services for students.
“It hurt so bad,” an elementary school teacher from the Monticello area told the IndyStar, explaining that local law enforcement told them to kneel against a wall and warned, “This is what happens if you just cower and do nothing” before shooting them in the back without warning.
ISTA director of government relations Gail Zeheralis told lawmakers that the union wanted a statement promising that teachers wouldn’t be shot with projectiles in future drills.
No one from the Twin Lakes School District or White County Sheriff’s Office immediately responded to Fortune’s request for comment, although the IndyStar notes that the sheriff said the department wouldn’t use airsoft guns after receiving the complaint.
