For Jonathan Burke, it felt real as he crouched in a corner of the library at Laguna College of Art and Design.
“I was really upset,” said Burke, president of the college. “There were a lot of gunshots even though they were blanks. People were screaming and really crying. It was interesting, the emotions that came up were real.”
Burke was among more than 100 people from LCAD and the local Community Emergency Response Team who on Wednesday, Jan. 10, hid on campus during a mock active shooter rampage. As those portraying victims sought shelter, police officers from Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Irvine and UC Irvine moved in, searching for the shooter.