While students were out of class last week on Election Day, teachers went through in-service training complete with the sound of gunshots going off in parts of the building.

The exercise was part of training for employees to recognize gunfire and the type of weapons in case of a shooting. The enhanced training around some of the school buildings was conducted by the Germantown Police Department at the request of Germantown Municipal School District leaders.

“Specifically, they wanted us to simulate what live gunfire would sound like —so that in the unfortunate event something ever did happen — they would know what that sounded like inside the building,” police Capt. Kevin Simpson said.