A sniper training exercise that placed humans and shooting targets only a few feet apart has become a campaign issue in the Roanoke sheriff's election.

Three days after the controversial practice became public, candidate Joe Bush held a news conference Monday to chastise Sheriff Octavia Johnson.

Bush said it was "completely irresponsible" that Johnson did not know that police officers participating in the training stood within a few feet of targets while snipers fired from 100 yards away.

After details of the October training session at the Dixie Caverns firing range were reported Friday by The Roanoke Times, Johnson first defended the practice but later said she would not allow it to take place again.

Bush is seeking the Democratic nomination to oppose Johnson, a Republican, in the November election.

He expressed concerns that the controversy could cost the city sheriff's office and police department the opportunity to train at the facility, which is owned by Roanoke County.

Bush said he expects the incident will become a campaign issue in a race that includes a second Democrat and an independent vying to unseat Johnson.

"It's really one of the many aspects of the past four years," he said of Johnson's first term. "Things are just overlooked and mismanaged."

Johnson declined to comment Monday.

Brian Keenum, who is running for sheriff as an independent, said he didn't have enough facts about the training exercise to make a final judgment.

"Having said that, I don't see the benefits that outweigh the risks of having someone downrange when there's a live weapon in use," Keenum said.

"I think it really speaks to a broader issue," he said. "Accountability and transparency in the sheriff's office are very important, and that's why I'm in the race."

Frank Garrett, a Roanoke sheriff's deputy who will be competing with Bush for the Democratic nomination, declined to comment on the issue when reached at home Monday.

Defenders of having an officer stand near a target say it's necessary to present as real-life a scenario as possible for the gunman, who sometimes must fire at suspects with other people nearby.

At a news conference Friday, Johnson said she was not aware until recently that officers were downrange during the training exercise.

"Sheriff Johnson told The Roanoke Times she was 'rather surprised' that these trainings had taken place," Bush said. "How could she not be aware of what type of training her deputies were receiving?"