Police in Burlington, Vermont, issued a public apology after students were shaken up by a role-play robbery demonstration that included “a mock shooting.”
About 20 Burlington High School students in a forensic program part of the year End Studies (YES) Program visited the Burlington Police Department on Wednesday, the school district said WPTZ of Plattsburgh, New York, reported.
During that presentation, the department put on a shooting simulation that included fake guns and came with no forewarning.
There were “screaming and fake gunshot sounds” and it took place “behind where the students were seated,” The Burlington School District said in a letter to families, WPTZ reported.
“As a result, some students believed the demonstration was real and were left feeling scared and confused,” the letter said.
However, police said their presentation was discussed prior with YES Program officials.
Burlington police said in a statement Thursday the role-playing scenario “only involved three department personnel simulating a robbery scenario and was not directed at any students or faculty.”
Police said that on April 29, Burlington School District staff associated with the YES program contacted BPD about conducting a presentation for students. On May 23, police department staff and YES program staff “communicated about the details of the scenarios, including saying that the training incident would involve ‘using fake firearms in a mock shooting,’” police said.
Police said the department asked if such an incident would “be okay for your group of students? It is about as real life as you can get, and is certainly exactly the sort of thing we deal with most frequently.”
YES Program staff then purportedly responded: “I think these students will be fine with this simulation. We will give a heads up to parents and students.”
“First and foremost, the Burlington Police Department apologizes to any students in attendance who were upset by the specific scenario and crime scene portion of the presentation,” the police department said.
BPD said that its supervisor involved in the presentation has reached out to the YES Program staff members to discuss the mater further.
“The BPD will be meeting with BSD students and staff tomorrow to discuss the presentation and its impact. We hope that this can be a reflective growth opportunity for all parties,” police said.
NBC News has reached out to the district for comment on the ordeal.
