A Florida teacher was fired after he told students to write their own obituaries before they participated in an active shooter drill.

Psychology teacher Jeffrey Keene assigned the 11th and 12th graders in his first-period class to write the obituary last week as a part of their coursework, according to an interview he gave NBC News. He was fired before the end of the day at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando.

“It wasn’t to scare them or make them feel like they were going to die, but just to help them understand what’s important in their lives and how they want to move forward with their lives and how they want to pursue things in their journey,” Mr. Keene, 63, told the network.

A spokesperson for the Orange County School District confirmed to NBC that Mr. Keene had been let go after “families were informed that a teacher gave an inappropriate assignment about school violence.”

The psychology teacher was hired in January and was still on his probationary period, meaning the school district could release him without recourse from the local union.

“I don’t think I did anything incorrectly,” Mr. Keene told NBC. “I know hindsight is 20/20, but I honestly didn’t think a 16-, 17-, 18-year-old would be offended or upset by talking about something we’re already talking about.”

According to an organization called the K-12 School Shooting Database, more than 100 shootings have taken place in the U.S. so far this year at either kindergarten through 12th grade schools or during school-related activities.

The organization is run by founder and researcher David Riedman, who uses police reports, court records, news articles and interviews to compile the database.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.