Elementary school teachers were shot with pellet guns 'execution style' during an active shooter drill in Indiana

Teachers at Meadowlawn Elementary School in Monticello, Indiana, were shot "execution style" with pellet guns as part of an active shooter training conducted in January.
The active shooter drill was organized by the White County Sheriff's Office, and used training from the organization ALICE, which stands for "Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate."
The teachers said they were left with welts from the incident, and are now supporting a bill that aims to improve mental health and social emotional wellness services at schools .

Elementary school teachers were shot "execution style" with pellet guns as part of an active shooter training conducted by a local sheriff's office, the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) said.

Teachers at Meadowlawn Elementary School in Monticello, Indiana, were left with welts and bruises in January after they were told to kneel against a wall and sprayed with plastic pellets, according to a report on the incident in the Indianapolis Star .

The drill featured officers from the White County Sheriff's Office, and training from an organization called ALICE, which stands for "Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate" and promotes SWAT-like defense tactics.

According to its website , ALICE teaches "option based tactics" rather than just "lockdown" approaches to shootings.

Thousands of schools across the country use ALICE to train for active shooters, though shooting teachers with pellets is not part of the regular training.

ISTA Vice President Keith Gambill told INSIDER that having active shooter drills is normal at schools, but said this "particular one went a bit too far in their method."

Teachers first detailed the incident in front of the State Senate Education Committee on Wednesday in which ISTA members testified in support of the House Bill 1004, which aims to improve mental health and social emotional wellness services at schools .

The ISTA repeated what happened on Twitter after its members testified, and said that teachers were asked not to tell people what happened.

White County Sheriff's Office told The Star that it will no longer used air-powered airsoft guns as part of its trainings with teachers.

Gambill, who is also a music teacher in Evansville, told INSIDER that there is not a uniform training method outlined for all schools across Indiana, and instead, training is decided on a local level.

He said he didn't know what discussions went into the planning of the Meadowlawn drill.

"At the end of the day we want our student and staff to feel save in their working and learning environment," he told INSIDER.