Police in Burlington, Vermont apologize to students for mock shooting demonstration

Police in Burlington, Vermont have apologized to a group of high school students who were shaken up by a role-playing presentation that involved a mock shooting.

The presentation took place Wednesday when about 20 students from Burlington High School's Year End Studies forensics class visited the Burlington Police Department's headquarters for a field trip, according to a statement from Russ Elek, spokesperson for the Burlington School District, to the VTDigger.

The news outlet, citing an email school officials sent parents and families of the students involved, reports that police reenacted a crime and students unexpectedly heard screaming and fake gunshots behind where they were seated.

The purpose of the presentation "was to make a point about how witness statements can be unreliable, and detectives wanted the event to be as realistic as possible," the VTDigger reports, citing an email written by interim principal Sabrina Westdijk and two teachers in attendance.

"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 department said in a news release Thursday.

'About as real-life as you can get'

The department stated that the role-playing scenario involved "three department personnel simulating a robbery scenario" and was not directed toward any students or faculty. Police also said the district contacted them in April about conducting the presentation after a "previous successful presentation" between the programs in the fall of 2023.

According to Elek, school officials "didn't realize the presentation would happen without warning," a claim the Burlington Police Department disputes, according to the VTDigger.

The Burlington Police Department said it communicated details of the scenarios to the school program's staff in May, including saying that the training incident would involve "using fake firearms in a mock shooting." The department said it told program staff the presentation "is about as real life as you can get, and is certainly exactly the sort of thing we deal with most frequently."

'A reflective growth opportunity'

Police said the program staff responded, "I think these students will be fine with the simulation. We will give a heads up to parents and students."

The police department said in the statement it will meet with students and staff Friday to discuss the presentation and its impact.

"We hope that this can be a reflective growth opportunity for all parties," the department said in the statement.

Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@gannett.com