14-05-2025
'Drop your weapon' FBI simulator demonstrates law enforcement decision-making scenarios
The FBI Citizens Academy is an inside look at the FBI through frank discussion and education in a six-week course. This is the fifth of six columns which explores Las Cruces Sun-News reporter Lauren Elizabeth Shults' experience as a student in the program.
After reviewing cases and potential hostage and shooting situations in several of the 2025 FBI El Paso Citizen's Academy classes, the FBI special agents decided to send the students to the firearms training room. My more reserved classmates and I shuddered in unison, while the firearms enthusiasts among us seemed eager for the session.
"The whole time, I'm thinking about where this person grew up and what their background is," a fellow student said to me as we waited for our turn to enter the simulation room. She said she'd be less focused on the situation at hand and more concerned with how the perpetrator got to the point that they're threatening her life or the lives of others. Agents told us, though, that we'd be faced with life-and-death scenarios.
In the simulation room, a projection on a wall looked like a video game, and agents handed me a plastic, replica gun. The object of the simulation was to shoot the perpetrator before they used lethal force. Essentially, the goal was to stop whatever situation was about to occur. The agents gave me little instruction and left me to act on instinct.
In the first simulation, a man was holding a person hostage with a gun in his hand, pointed at the victim's head. We were in a hallway, and I wondered if more people were around the corner. Were they escaping? The man yelled that he was going to shoot the person clutched in his arms and demanded that I not step any closer. "Who is this man, and why was he trying to assert power like that?" I asked myself. I let out a weak "don't shoot." With the plastic pistol in my hand, my eyes were wide, and I froze, thinking only of all the possible reasons that could have led to the situation. Immediately, I began to obey the perpetrator's direction and shifted my stance back, worried about what they'd do if I didn't. The man lunged toward me after no warning, and I pulled the trigger.
The brevity of the situation urged prompt decision-making — a learned skill that requires near-constant training. At the moment, questions of your vitality and that of others arise. Not only do you question the lives of the victims, but also the perpetrators. The goal is never to kill anyone, agents repeatedly told the class throughout the prior five weeks. It is to stop a crisis. What constitutes a crisis where lethal force is acceptable is only in situations where there is a risk of death or serious physical injury, according to standards outlined in the 1989 case Graham v. Conner, which both the FBI and the Las Cruces Police Department (LCPD) abide by.
Allegations that law enforcement escalates situations unnecessarily and uses deadly force are abundant without question. Officers must adhere to their department's policies when making split-second decisions regarding deadly force. It is for them to remove any social implications and make judgments impartially, considering "facts and circumstances confronting them," as the 1989 case reads.
I looked back at the room of agents focused on me and asked, "how many of these do we have?"
"One more," the agents said, laughing. It was clear to everyone in the room that I wasn't comfortable having a weapon in my hand, even though it was only an imitation. The agents instructed me to give commands in the following simulation: use de-escalation tactics. Law enforcement must attempt to gain voluntary compliance before escalating force to secure their safety and that of the public.
Suddenly, I was seated in a diner booth, according to the screen. My arms were still raised in a shooting position. "Would you have your gun out like that in a restaurant," an agent asked me. I hesitated and lowered my firearm as I watched a man sit at the table across from me — who immediately seemed agitated. He began taunting me, asking if I had a problem with him. "No," my voice quivered. He stood and walked toward me, spitting threats. I had no control over the situation.
"FBI, don't shoot," I repeated, words an agent muttered to me. "Hands in the air," and "drop your weapon," they said, and I recited. At that point, I began to raise the gun that my hands were still wrapped around. And just like that, the man shot me.
The mere simulation left me shaken. Training like this gives further insight into what law enforcement officers endure. Still, no simulation can predict reality.
Every officer-involved shooting and situation of imminent danger of death is a culmination of social challenges and deeply human emotions in one moment. To uphold justice, members of law enforcement must make objectively reasonable decisions, as stated in the policies they abide by.
Lauren Elizabeth Shults is the public safety reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News. To reach her emaillshults@ or follow her on X at@laurenshults.
Editor's note: The Las Cruces Sun-News chose to withhold the names of the agents mentioned in this article, referring to them by title or role only, in order to preserve their security.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Simulation training with the FBI
