On June 8, a group of students gathered at Poston Butte High School in San Tan Valley for an unusual demonstration — a staged school shooting intended to teach them about the criminal justice process and the variety of professionals involved.
The students kept their distance as a man in a ski mask ran into the school’s atrium, where he pretended to fire a fake gun. Four volunteers acting as shooting victims were covered in fake blood. The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office swept the room, and a team of EMTs responded.
“There’s a ton of resources that are coming together, and it’s really in the interest of the kids,” said Pinal County Attorney Kent Volkmer.
Roughly 50 high school students were treated to an up-close look at law enforcement careers at the Youth CSI Summer Camp held by the Pinal County Attorney’s Office. For over three days, participants from across the county learned about different aspects of a criminal investigation.
Volkmer said the program’s goal is for students “to understand how the justice system truly works” and to spark interest in a law enforcement career.
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The program, which is in its second year, grew out of a forensic science class at Poston Butte that teacher Kayla Kully created.
Kully, whose background is in law enforcement, said that her course is a “hands-on” experience for students who are interested in crime scene investigation. Many of the summer camp participants have taken Kully’s class. The Youth CSI Summer Camp expands the opportunity to learn about forensics to Pinal County students outside of Poston Butte.
The summer camp began with a class on Wednesday to walk the students through forensics basics. On Thursday, after the staged shooting, they collected evidence around the school. Then sheriff’s deputies apprehended and questioned a suspect. On the last day of camp, a mock trial was staged at the Pinal County Superior Court, where some students served as attorneys and jurors.
Volkmer said a case of this nature would typically take 18 months to three years to reach trial, but students only had to wait a day before seeing witnesses take the stand. The expedited timeline helps participants understand the many responsibilities of law enforcement careers.
“I want kids to walk away understanding what’s fully involved before they decide to take on a career like that,” Kully said.
Cody Daer, a youth cadet with the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, returned to the summer program this year. It has given him a sense of how law enforcement functions from multiple angles, he said. Someday, he said, he sees himself becoming a K-9 officer.
This is the first time a school shooting has been staged at the camp. Last year, the program tackled a scenario involving gun violence after a drug deal. Kully said the school shooting scenario is relevant for her students, who have regularly participated in active shooter drills.
“It’s very sensitive to have an active shooter inside a school building,” Kully said. “But that’s the reality of 2023.”
In the midst of collecting forensic evidence for the trial, students could speak with a licensed counselor, Laura Wood, about what they had just seen and felt. There are many ways traumatic events can affect someone’s day-to-day life, she said.
“You don’t have to be shot to have the trauma,” Wood said.
On the program’s last day, a jury of students found the defendant guilty on all four counts.