Public worry ends Ohio State ROTC rifle drills

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news/2008/04/ap_ohiostate_041808

The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 21, 2008 6:42:17 EDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Public nervousness after the Virginia Tech shootings has led the Ohio State University ROTC program to stop its outdoor training with fake rifles.

Navy Capt. Steven Noce leads the program and says police have received a few calls of concern in the past year after people saw the cadets training for combat with their mock M-16s.

It was a year ago this week that a gunman killed 32 people at Virginia Tech.

At first, ROTC officials thought that switching from black rubber rifles to ones colored blue or orange would solve the problem, but Noce says some passers-by still got scared.

The drills are typically conducted around the ROTC building near Ohio Stadium. For now, they’ve been moved indoors, or cadets are training without the rifles.

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