SCRANTON -- Using five different "real life" scenarios, Lackawanna County employees learned what to do in an active shooter situation in a training session at Marywood University Wednesday.
"It's definitely fear and panic when you hear the gunshots, and you just look around and you realize there's really not a lot of places or options to hide," said Lackawanna County Deputy District Attorney Suzanne Tierney.
The training was mandatory for every Lackawanna County employee and SWAT team members with the Sheriff's Office ran the show. When it came time for the shooter to try and get in the room, it was every man for himself.
"I heard good things about it, but to actually experience it and be here is really practical, and I think beneficial to everyone in Lackawanna County," said Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell.
The purpose of this particular training is scenarios that could happen in the workplace. County employees are encouraged to go back to work tomorrow and think about how they could use what they learned here in their offices.
"We were already talking about it. What door would we barricade? Making sure we knew what exits are in the courthouse, probably there's exits we didn't even think about," Tierney said.
Corporal Glen Capman was the "bad guy" in the scenarios used Wednesday, but he was the one who helped organize the training. Even though it is designed for the work environment, he says the tools taught there could work anywhere.
"You can be out at the movie theater or restaurant. Everything comes in to play, it's a mutual-type training," Capman said.
Wednesday's session was the last day of training, so now all of the nearly 1,000 Lackawanna County employees have gone through it.