Sheriff's deputies check the Children and Youth Services offices where a county employee was “killed” Tuesday as part of an active shooter training.

Hundreds of people come and go from the Butler County Government Center every day.

Although the building is staffed by armed sheriff's deputies and monitored by security cameras, it is always possible that an armed and dangerous person somehow gets in.

“We try and stop complacency from happening. People think 'it will never happen here,'” Butler County Sheriff Deputy Kevin Stiles said.

About 40 Butler County employees and most of the members of the sheriff's department participated in an active shooter training Tuesday night in the government center.

Stiles, who is trained in the ALICE response program, led the training and schooled the county workers in what their reaction should be if there is a shooter or violent person in the building.

ALICE stands for: alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate.

It teaches that civilians who find themselves in an active shooter situation should notify the authorities and try and flee the building as quickly as possible.

“If you can remove yourself from where the violence is taking place, do that first and foremost,” Stiles said.

If it isn't safe to get out of the building, they are taught to barricade themselves somewhere and be prepared to fight back if all else fails.

Sheriff Mike Slupe told the county employees Tuesday night that if there is an active shooter in the building, they should grab scissors or whatever else they can find to fight back.

“Do what you've got to do, fight for your life,” he said.

People normally call 911 to report an emergency, but county employees can dial a specific number from landline phones in the building to reach the security desk in the main lobby and report a problem to the deputies there, Slupe said. Some offices also have panic buttons, which trigger an alarm at the security desk.

Slupe said all county employees were notified about the training and invited to participate voluntarily. During the exercises they were asked to go to their offices where they normally work, while a few people were asked to go to a courtroom as if they were in the middle of proceedings there.Stiles ran three different scenarios where he acted as the shooter, pretending to kill county employees and moving around the building until he could either escape or get caught by sheriff's deputies.The training included firing blanks from a real gun, so that participants would be able to recognize the sound and smell of gunshots.After the exercises, Slupe and County Commissioner Kevin Boozel stressed that employees need to be aware of their surroundings at all times, look out for suspicious people and remain vigilant about “piggybacking,” or letting people in through side doors to the government center.“These guys can't be everywhere,” Boozel said about the sheriff's deputies.All visitors must go through the main entrance and pass through a metal detector, while deputies monitor all other entrances via video cameras and will confront any unfamiliar person who tries to enter the building, Slupe said.While a notification through a public address system was effective at reaching everyone Tuesday, employees commented that they would like to see a text message or phone alert system put in place for emergencies. Boozel said a county safety committee was looking into phone-based alerts.The deputies did a debriefing afterward in which they discussed how well they communicated during the training, how effectively they searched the various offices in the government center and how well prepared they were for different possible outcomes.

Sheriff's deputies regroup during Tuesday's training at the Butler County Government Center.