Students at City of Bristol College partnered with local police and rescue services to stage a major firearms incident as part of a police training exercise.

Theatrical media make-up students used their skills to provide more than 200 actors with realistic-looking injuries, reflective of those experienced in a serious shooting incident.

Actors were asked to play injured members of the public on a set in Bristol, as ‘gunmen’ took over a shopping centre.

Kate Dowle, a theatrical and media make-up lecturer at the college, said: “Events like this require a large amount of preparation, such as premade prosthetic limbs and wounds, something that would be required in the industry. The event highlighted what it’s like to work on a live brief on a hectic set, and the students all rose to the challenge.”

Avon and Somerset Police, Avon Fire and Rescue service and South West Ambulance Service Trust were all involved in the event, staged by Black Rock Specialist Training Centre, which specialise in training officers in police firearms tactics.

Rheia Roberts Budworth, a student at the college, said: “The actual exercise was scarily real and it was great to see our hard work in action.”

 

Featured picture: Actors show off their theatrical makeup