EIU offers students, staff training for active shooter

CHARLESTON, Ill. (AP) - Eastern Illinois University students and staff have participated in an active shooter drill and demonstration before the start of classes this semester.

The Thursday event included a training lecture for resident advisers and other housing and dining staff on the Charleston campus. It highlighted ALICE - or Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate. It trains people what to do if there's an active shooter.

The Mattoon Journal-Gazette and (Charleston) Times-Courier report (http://bit.ly/2aOJ49i this was the first time this kind of training was offered to EIU housing and dining services staff. School officials said they wanted to be proactive and offer the course because of recent mass shootings.

Those who participated in the training created a barricade against a classroom door and learned to toss shoes to keep intruders away.

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Information from: Mattoon Journal-Gazette, http://www.jg-tc.com