FOUNTAIN HILLS, Arizona (Reuters) - Action film star Steven Seagal, who racks up big body counts in his on-screen battles with bad guys, took on a new role on Saturday, training posse volunteers for controversial Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio in how to use guns to protect schools in shooting incidents.
Arpaio, who styles himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff," enlisted Seagal to train his Maricopa County posse members at a school in Fountain Hills, a suburb northeast of Phoenix, with children used as stand-ins for scared students.
Seagal, a burly martial arts expert turned actor, guided 48 volunteers through various aspects of responding to a shooting, including room-to-room searches, and critiqued their work.
"I am here to try to teach the posse firearms and martial arts to try to help them learn how to respond quicker and help protect our children," Seagal said.
Arpaio, whose tough stances on crime and illegal immigration have made him a national figure, has dispatched the volunteer posse to patrol schools in response to the shooting rampage that killed 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut school in December.
