On Saturday, Nov. 5, police said Officer Lina Mino, 29, was shot in the face during the exercise at David Sellars Elementary School in Forest Hill.
FORT WORTH, Texas — A North Texas police officer is out of the ICU and stable, after being shot during a police training exercise near a Fort Worth elementary school last weekend, officials say.
On Saturday, Nov. 5, police said Sansom Park Police Officer Lina Mino, 29, was shot in the face during the exercise at David Sellars Elementary School in Forest Hill.
“It’s the call you never want. One of my officers had been shot. It was rather shocking news,” Sansom Park Police Chief James Burchfield told WFAA.
Local police chiefs told WFAA that many departments have been doing more trainings after what happened in Uvalde.
Chief Burfield explained that officers were participating in an active shooter exercise, where officers role played the shooter and officer responded to the active shooter call. Somehow, a weapon with a live round was introduced into the session.
A similar situation happened about 20 years ago in Arlington.
“There were a flood of emotions,” said James Hawthorne, the former assistant police chief in Arlington.
Hawthorne was emotional after hearing about what happened to Mino.
“It gets to your heart. We hope and pray she’s OK,” said Hawthorne.
Hawthorne said the Arlington incident is still difficult to talk about, too.
“We were involved in an active shooter training, and one of our officers, Joey Cushman, was killed in the training accident,” said Hawthorne.
In the Sansom Park case, the Texas Rangers said Mino is lucky to be alive.
According to the flyer WFAA obtained, the active shooter training class was hosted by the Forest Hills Police Department and instructed by Paul Gaumond.
Gaumond’s lawyer, Jane Bishkin, told WFAA that Gaumond has been the reserve chief deputy constable for Johnson County Precinct 2 for the last 16 years.
“If you’re in a training scenario like that, no ammunition. No real guns should be in that environment,’’ said Hawthorne.
As the Texas Rangers and the Tarrant County Sheriff’s department are leading the investigation, Hawthorne has advice for other departments considering the same training.
“You want people who’ve done this before, over and over again, a proven track record,’’ said Hawthorne.
As of right now, the Sansom Park Police Department says Mino has a long road to recovery, where she will require several surgeries in the next couple of months.
There will be a benefit fundraiser held by Fort Worth police officers, a department she used to work in. They’re hoping to help raise money for medical expenses.
Friends set up an online fundraising campaign to help pay for medical expenses. A T-shirt fundraiser in honor of Mino is also ongoing. Click here for more.
“She’s got a lot of brothers and sisters out here, who are pulling for her, and rooting for her, and can’t wait to see her back in that uniform,’’ said Hawthorne, as he’s hoping for a speedy recovery.