Los Angeles: Steven Seagal, the Hollywood action star, has been enlisted by a controversial Arizona sheriff to give weapons and martial arts training to a civilian "posse" used to guard schools.

At a Phoenix school, Mr Seagal guided 48 volunteers on how to respond to a mass shooting, with children acting as stand-ins for frightened students.

The volunteers were shown how to conduct room-to-room searches.

Mr Seagal, 60, said: "I am here to try to teach the posse firearms and martial arts to try to help them learn how to respond quicker and help protect our children." Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who styles himself "America's toughest sheriff", has been dispatching the posse to guard schools in response to the gun rampage that killed 20 children and six adults at a school in Newtown, Connecticut.