IUPD cadets get lessons in shooting

A video played on the projector as IU Police Department Training Sgt. David Rhodes introduced Friday what his audience was about to watch. \n"Let's see what happens when you stand still and someone's shooting you," he said in a deadpan tone.\nOn the screen, a police officer was brutally shot four to five times while he remained stationary. \nAs Rhodes turned off the projector, the 20 IUPD cadets sitting before him shook their heads in amazement. The video was the start of a special presentation on the real threat and danger of being shot that police officers face every day. \n"The bad guys don't sit back and wait for you," he said. \nRhodes' graphic video was just a warm-up for the real life experience that would come from Indianapolis Police Officer Michael Antonelli.\nAntonelli spoke the classroom full of IUPD officers and cadets about his experience being shot almost nine months earlier, when during a traffic stop in Indianapolis, he was shot in the eye. \nIPD Officer Stephanie Thompson, one of the first on the scene, apprehended the passenger in the shooting suspect's vehicle, and Indiana State Trooper Jim Soper apprehended the shooter the next day. All three of the officers, who were present for the lecture, are former IUPD cadets and have graduated from the IU Police Academy.\n"I sat in those seats five years ago," Antonelli said. "The IU Police Academy laid an incredible groundwork for me." Although Thompson and Antonelli were in the IUPD at the same time, Antonelli met Soper for the first time the morning of the presentation. IUPD Training Lt. Greg Butler, coordinator of the presentation, said the first meeting between the two men was very emotional. \n"Soper said (apprehending the gunman) was the best day of his life and Antonelli said Soper is his hero," Butler said. "It demonstrates the bond for those that came from this program, and that has an added impact." \nAntonelli said he is hoping his experience will hit home for the Cadets.\n"If it can happen to me, it can happen to them," he said. "When they see one of their own, maybe that will help them take their training even more seriously."\nSteven Chong, a cadet who will graduate from IU's Police Academy in three weeks, said the presentation made an impression on him. \n"I'd already heard about the shooting, but now I can see the reality of it," he said. "We see a lot of videos (during training), but this makes it more real." \nAfter the shooting, Antonelli was in facial reconstruction surgery for nine hours. For the next eight to 10 weeks he was confined to bed rest. Antonelli now has a prosthetic right eye and wears glasses for added protection. Now on light duty for the IPD, he's waiting to find out if he can return to full duty.\n"This might make some people shy away from being a police officer," he said, "but it's all I want to do"