By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

The courthouse will be closed Friday so employees can learn how to protect themselves if someone shows up with a gun.

Hillsboro Police Chief Jessey Hiebert will present an active shooter class for employees.

The class will start at 8:30 a.m. with a two-hour PowerPoint presentation and discussion.

“It will show the importance of the training so they understand why they are there,” Hiebert said. “It shows the history of how this training is successful — in people better protecting themselves in an active shooter situation.”

After a lunch break, practical exercises will take up the rest of the afternoon.

“The unique thing about this training is that we actually shoot a rifle on every floor of the courthouse,” Hiebert said. “That lets people know if they can hear a rifle from another floor.”

Knowing someone is shooting on another floor of a building helps people know whether to escape the building or stay in the room where they are and protect themselves, Hiebert said.

Instructors will do threat assessments in each office.

“We go into the work space and see how you are able to lock in place, how are you able to keep the bad guy from getting to you,” he said. “That also involves anything you could use as a weapon, even a metal drink cup, or a stapler, or something like that.”

Trainers also teach employees how to swarm a shooter to stop him.

“We want to make sure you go beyond the door lock,” Hiebert said. “Secure the door by pushing a file cabinet in front of it, or strap the door so it won’t open.”

Last year Hiebert taught an active shooter class for each courtroom floor in the judicial system.

“I was asked by the chief judge of the Eighth Judicial District to do training for the courts throughout the district, so I was in each of the courthouses,” he said.

Heibert, who has been teaching active shooter training for 12 years, is the only officer in Marion County certified to teach the class.