Charlottetown police fired live ammunition into a car at a shooting range near Charlottetown Thursday.

A 3D laser scanner then measured the angle and depth of the bullet holes, and told police where the shooters had stood as the shots were fired.

It marked a key step in a training course completed this week by five Charlottetown police officers. Laser scanners are widely used by police in Europe and the U.S.

Charlottetown police, RCMP and Toronto police are among the handful of Canadian police forces now using the technology.

"Canada is newer at this," said Eugene Liscio, the course trainer. "This really puts Charlottetown at the forefront of this type of technology."

Charlottetown police say the device will likely be used frequently at accident scenes, where precise measurements are key to understanding what happened in a car crash. It will also be used in cases of sudden death, to catalogue the exact location of a body in relation to its surroundings.

Police believe the device can also make schools safer. The scanner could be used inside school buildings to create 3D maps of every classroom, hallway, entrance and exit.

"We'll have a virtual fly through of a building, invaluable in times of crisis," said Brad MacConnell, Charlottetown Deputy Chief. "[It would] up our game in our safe-schools approach."

Training of the officers on the $105,000 device is now complete. It will be put into use for the first time as soon as it is needed, according to MacConnell.