On Thursday, high school students got first-hand experience in how the criminal justice system works through one of the worst modern crimes anyone can be witness to.
Warning: This article contains imagery that some may find triggering. Reader discretion is advised.
There’s nothing rare about a school shooting these days.
Unlike the real thing, everyone in the Poston Butte High School on Thursday knew exactly what was about to happen right at 9:30 in the morning.
Hopefully, they never have to witness the real thing.
The students in the room were all part of a mock mass casualty event.
A man acting as a gunman came into a common room of the school and fired into a crowd of people. Some students faked injuries and two adults played dead with fake blood, lying on the floor.
Pinal County deputies cleared rooms as EMTs transported pretend victims.
It all unfolded under the watchful eyes of students interested in careers in criminal justice like Joy Burns, who dusted the push bar of a door for fingerprints of the pretend suspect.
Burns said she’s interested in law enforcement and forensics.
“Eventually I’d like to join the police department or the FBI,” she said.
The bullet casings, samples from the fake blood and various video angles were all compiled and shown for a mock trial at a Superior Court on Friday.
Cody Daer was one of 12 students not in the room, as he’ll serve as a pretend juror.
“I just heard a little bit of screaming, that was all,” he said.
The purpose behind all of this is to give these students interested in the various careers of criminal justice hands-on experience from the view of law enforcement.
“We tried to make this as real as possible,” said Pinal County Attorney Kent Volkmer.
Volkmer helped organize the exercise for dozens of students interested in crime scene investigations.
“Part of the reason in doing this is we want kids just out of the home doing something, we want it to be truly educational, our third purpose is to spark something in people,” he said.
Even when everything is staged, the images can be traumatizing.
Laura Wood of Benavieri Counseling spoke to the students on how to process what they saw to prevent post-traumatic stress.
"You’re reminding your mind this event happened. It was hard and overwhelming, and you're safe. It’s over, in the past and you survived,” said Wood.
The setting may be uncomfortable to watch or be a part of, but it aims to help students feel comfortable in a possible career path.
