This is only a drill: But Big Hollow teachers learn how to save kids in a shooting

"Lockdown, lockdown, lockdown. Active shooter coming up the north stairwell."

The words echo loudly down the eighth-grade hallway on the second floor at Big Hollow Middle School in Ingleside. The words prompt 28 teachers in a classroom to huddle in a corner and lower their heads, hoping the unknown shooter doesn't see them.

He does.

The shooter - wearing a full mask and carrying two black handguns - rips open the door, sees the huddled mass and screams, "There you are!" He fires several rounds from both guns at the group before the voice in the background bellows, "All clear."

"I stopped shooting because I didn't want to shoot some of the prone teachers," Lake County sheriff's Detective Mark Robbins said as he prepares to put on his protective mask. "But, officially, everyone in the corner would have been shot."

This was the first of four scenarios sheriff's officials demonstrated to Big Hollow teachers as part of a drill designed to train them on ways to react should an active shooter situation ever take place at the school.

The scenario was not meant to injure, but it was definitely designed to scare them.

"It's eye-opening and shocking," said Big Hollow Elementary District 38 Superintendent Bob Gold, who took part in the drill and was one of the educators shot while huddling in a corner. "It's one of those things I didn't plan I would need when getting into education 25 years ago, but definitely important to know now."

The first scenario was to show the 125 teachers who participated in the demonstration what not to do. In later scenarios using the ALICE Active Shooter Civilian Response Training system, teachers escaped without a shot being fired in their direction. ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate, which specifically trains teachers on how to best respond should a shooter enter the building.

"There is no reason why you cannot leave the room and move to an emergency stairwell or exit to get away from the shooter," said Sgt. Kyle Brown, who was the lead trainer at the school Friday. "You will learn that laying on the ground is not an accurate response to an active shooter situation."

Later scenarios had teachers voluntarily leave their rooms without being told to do so and evacuating down a different hallway. Teachers barricaded doors to prevent the shooter from getting in, or used objects to deter Robbins from entering a room should he manage to open a door and push to get inside.

In each scenario, fewer shots were fired from Robbin's nonlethal Air Soft guns, resulting in fewer people being shot.

"The goal is to make sure people are prepared in case anything like this happens anywhere in Lake County," Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said. ALICE training is available to any school, place of worship or business interested in taking part in the program, he said.