Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office Hosts Sniper Training Program

Eight agencies across the state sent snipers to Oklahoma County for a week-long intensive training.

The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office hosted sniper school with 14 students this time around. The training started with the fundamentals of sniping at the beginning of the week. By Friday, the officers were testing their limits in obstacles and hostage scenarios. 

Lt. Jason Ruegge is one of the trainers with OCSO.

“We simulate having to look under a car, over a car, through a fence,” Ruegge said. “The cover is blowing in the wind in Oklahoma.”

Ruegge said the students are pushed to the absolute brink. They pressure them with loud sirens, extra gun shots and demands. You hear instructors constantly screaming, “Hurry up!” On top of that, smoke and explosions are thrown out to hinder vision of the etarget.

“We make them run. We make them tired. I don’t want them to be able to breathe,” said Ruegge. He is training them to make split-second decisions in this boot camp.

With all the distractions, the goal is to make sure the snipers are independent. After each round, they go over each shot the student took. The instructor and the sniper talk through every error so they won’t make the same mistakes in real-life situations.