The Indiana State Teacher's Association claims active shooter training in at least one school system went too far.

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — The Indiana State Teacher's Association claims active shooter training in at least one school system went too far.

Teachers in Monticello say their training included getting shot and injured by pellet guns.

ISTA wants lawmakers to ban the practice. The vice president of the local teacher’s union, the Twin Lakes Classroom Teachers Organization, was shocked by what she heard from 20 teachers.

"They were lined up against the wall, told to crouch down and shot execution style in the back" with a pellet gun, Juli Topp said.

ISTA Executive Director Dan Holub was just as shocked.

"We just had to ask ourselves, 'Why did this happen?'" he asked. "What was going through the minds of trainers."

"We want our training to be real," explained White County Sheriff's Chief Deputy David Roth. "We want our training to be useful."

Roth said he observed the active shooter training other sheriff’s deputies gave to teachers of Monticello’s Meadowlawn Elementary School. Students were not in school.

"I was taken aback when I was told the Airsoft gun traumatized educators," he said.

Roth explained that the practice of shooting educators with the pellet guns is part of the widely used A.L.I.C.E school safety program. Videos from its website show how students and teachers can save themselves, by escaping, locking down and, when necessary, fighting back against the shooter.

Did teachers know it was going to happen?

"They were told," Roth said, adding that paintball masks were issued for safety.

Roth said the exercise was voluntary and no one complained of being injured.

But teachers were hurting.

"There was a lot of welting, bruising and open wounds and scabbing," Topp said.

Active shooter training is intended to give educators a sense of realism.

"We are teachers. We don’t need to be shot," she added.

"For us, it’s real simple. You don’t shoot teachers during active shooter training or Tasers or anything like that," Holub said.

Roth said the White County Sheriff's Department used the training for years in other schools without any complaints.