Many teenagers spend their summers working, hanging with friends or playing video games.

SC Association of Law Enforcement Explorers members spend their vacations preparing for a law enforcement career.

That could mean one day facing a deranged shooter.

The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department hosted the 2018 Summer SCALE Conference last week.

14 teams from 12 agencies competed in 11 team-based skills and 7 individual assessments.

One of the skills was an active shooter scenario.

Teams were given 20 minutes to neutralize the threat and assist “victims” at the Rosenwald Community Learning center in Lexington.

Teams were graded on how well they followed their training in a high-pressure situation.

Plastic guns and dummy dolls were used in the drill.

The shooter fired blanks to make the scenario feel and sound real.

The teams were required to answer questions at a mock press conference with real news crews directly after.

The Chronicle was invited to interview the teams as if it was a real press conference.

Lexington Sheriff’s Department’s Public information officers Capt. Adam Myrick and Colby Gallagher gave feedback and praise.

They said the Explorers did extraordinarily well in the interviews.

The Lexington post did not compete in this part of the competition since they’d have an unfair home field advantage.

Winners of the competition were announced Saturday, July 28 at Riverbluff High School.

Summerville Police Department Post 751 won first place in the active shooter drill.

The overall winner was Pickens County Sheriff’s Office post 138.