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An anti-terrorism drill featuring a white supremacist U.S. student on a racially-motivated gun spree has been cancelled - after a critic of the event threatened to carry it out for real.
The planned exercise at Treynor High School in western Iowa featured a mock scenario where an anti-immigration pro-gun student shouts racist abuse before shooting a minority pupil.
Emergency management officials in the state had organised the drill, which was going to involve 300 people, police and hospitals.
But the event has been shelved after bosses received an anonymous threat from a furious caller who warned: 'You better not come to work today because your school shooting is really going to happen.'
Planned: The anti-terrorism drill at Treynor High School, Iowa, was to involve 300 people before bosses decided to cancel
Organisers say the exercise - Operation Close Campus - was designed to ensure school officials, emergency responders and support were prepared in the event of a school shooting.
Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Agency had organised the event with the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Plan by distributing plans last week for how the mock scenario would unfold.
In the back story created for the drill, an 18 year-old high school student whose family are known firearm enthusiasts, starts a fight with a group of minority students.
The pupil then shouts racial slurs at the minority students before producing a handgun and opening fire.
A 17 year-old friend of the 'active shooter' then joins him in 'firing upon anyone in their path and chasing down anyone who is against their ill-perceived stand', according to the drill instructions.
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ShareKevin Elwood, superintendent of Treynor Community Schools, told FoxNews.com he started receiving complaints from across midwest America after the plan went out.
Mr Elwood said: 'I’m getting a few emails today saying, "Are you crazy? Are you really doing this in school?"
'The scenario hadn’t been discussed at any previous meetings leading up to this event or any of the planning sessions we’ve had.
'It is unfortunate the kind of black cloud that is hanging over this because of the misunderstanding of the scenario that was painted.'
Mr Elwood added that 42 local agencies had been involved in the exercise, which was cancelled after he received over 30 emails of complaint once plans were circulated.
Drill: Police and hospital services were among the 300 people involved in the Operation Closed Campus anti-terror exercise
He claimed that a disclaimer on the plan said the scenario would 'reflect no actual conditions, attitudes or current threat assessments in or around Pottawattamie County, the City of Treynor, its citizens or the Treynor Community School District'.
Mr Elwood said firearms would have been used as a prop in the event, and that no ammunition would have been included.
Pottawattamie County officials said in a statement: 'During the last 24 hours, the Treynor school system has received threats to their employees and buildings due to the planned 'active shooter' exercise.
'After consultation with the Treynor School District and the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, we have jointly decided to cancel the exercise due to these threats which we must consider viable.'
Two years ago, the Iowa National Guard canceled plans for an urban warfare exercise in Arcadia, Iowa, involving 100 combat troops asking residents about a suspected arms dealer and searching homes.
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