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Parents and kids attend free self defense seminar in Carroll County

CARROLL COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — Parents and kids attended a seminar about self defense after the murders of two teens in Carroll County. Police have not made any arrests in the murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German as of Wednesday night.

The seminar was free and open to everyone in the community. Organizers told 24-Hour News 8 they want children to feel confident by teaching them ways to protect themselves.

Children of all ages got a chance to learn different techniques and what to do in a dangerous situation at Riley Park.

“We learn how to defend ourselves how to escape from people and stuff like that,” said Rosie Kaplan, student.

Kaplan is 11-years old. She came with her dad. Both are from the West Lafayette area.

“Rosie is my oldest, but we have three girls two younger than her and so it’s always something as a concern even independence of recent events,” said Ian Kaplan, parent.

The murders of Abby and Libby affected many parents in the community. Some feared for their children and their safety.

“The girls are not much older than my girls are so this certainly has an impact,” said Kaplan.

The owners of Impact Zone in Lafayette and Monticello wanted to give back to their community. They came up with an idea to offer a free seminar. Erica Reyes runs the location in Monticello.

“You don’t need to be scared, you don’t need to feel like evil wins, that’s the message I want the parents to take away,” she said. “Evil won’t win if we don’t let it.”

Instructors ran through all the different scenarios, like being grabbed, how to respond and how to be more aware of your surroundings.

“We would like every child to attend a self defense course just to make them feel better, to make them feel like their safer bring the community back to a better state of mind,” she said.

A cyber expert also attended the free seminar and talked with parents about online safety.

Click here for information on future seminars.

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