The days of thinking it can't happen here in Jefferson City are gone.
That's the thinking of Jefferson City police as they go through active shooter training this week.
The department has done this training in places such as schools, theaters and warehouses; this week they are training at the now-closed Truman Hotel on Jefferson Street.
"We thank the Puri family, who owns this property, for allowing us to prepare for another scenario," said Capt. Doug Shoemaker. "We want to practice as often as we can, in as many different places as we can. Doing these at different locations helps us adjust to different environments."
Shoemaker said events like the mass shooting at Modine in 2003 pointed out how important this type of training is.
"The number of hours that JCPD officers go through active shooter training is much higher than the national average," he said. "We have two training officers in the department that lead our training."
New officers go through eight hours of training and current officers also go through training so with the exception of officers on vacation, all officers on the department will have gone through these scenarios.
During Thursday's training, officers went down hotel corridors as if they were looking for possible shooters in rooms. They went through how they should hold their weapons as well as what to look for before going in rooms.
"In situations like this, you have to make split second decisions," said Sgt. Chad Stieferman, one of the officers leading the training. "We want to give them the ability to be able to save their own life and the lives of those they would encounter in a situation like this."