Active Shooter in a School: Statistics and Recommended Response

Note: As part of my duties for the American Red Cross, I've had the opportunity to join several disaster preparedness councils involving both government and non government organizations (NGOs). I've also had the opportunity to sit in on some very informative training sessions. Here's a recap of a four-hour Department of Homeland Security training that was offered through the Marin Sheriff's Office. The topic is timely, and, yes, a little scary if you are a parent like me: School Violence & the Active Shooter, taught by the Public Safety Training Institute.

On April 6, 2018, I attended a Homeland Security class at the Marin Sheriff's Office taught by the Public Safety Training Institute. The subject was what to do in an active shooter situation at a school and the attendees were deputies, policemen, firemen and educators. The class was four hours and taught by two former policemen with a combined 59 years on the job. One was a former SWAT commander. You may have seen the class covered on ABC Channel 7 News. While I won't try to duplicate all of the valuable information we received during this training, I will try to pass along a few bullets that might be of interest. 

Image Credit: Public Safety Training Institute

Goal: First responders on the scene of an active shooter in a school are taught to go after the shooter first to eliminate the threat, even before attempting to rescue and treat those who are injured. Their goal according to the instructor is "Not about saving everybody, but saving as many as we can."

Important facts:

 

• Because active shooters are usually attempting to scare and harm as many as possible and do not care about escaping to commit another crime as a common thief would, for example, they are considered both criminals and terrorists. 
• Most active shooter incidents last 12 minutes or less.
• 60 percent of active shooters either commit suicide or die by "suicide by cop" by placing law enforcement in a position where they must shoot them.
• Most school active shooter incidents happen in small or mid-sized communities.
• 37 percent of incidents last less than 5 minutes. 60 percent of incidents last less than 7 minutes. 
• 97 percent of active shooters are male.
• 57 percent of incidents are over before law enforcement arrives.

 

Fire Alarms: Of special interest to the American Red Cross and firemen considering the greater safety issue is that many schools are creating policies to have students stay in lock down mode indoors even if a fire alarm is set off. This is because in 1998 at an Arkansas middle school and at subsequent incidents fire alarms were used by perpetrators to herd students and teachers outdoors to make them easier targets.

When school fire alarms can add to a dangerous situation.

In Arkansas, this was done by 11 and 13 year-old boys resulting in the death of five. So, the school staff have the tricky challenge of training how to respond and not torespond to fire alarms on campus.

There Are Warnings: FBI studies of incidents have concluded that most active shooters feel the need to post on social media (sometimes even pictures of themselves holding guns), make threats to others and talk about suicide. These are all warning signs to educators that a problem may be percolating on campus. The FBI has determined this after reviewing 220 incidents between 2000 and 2015. In those incidents,  661 were killed.

Florida School Shooter's disturbing social media post.

The message to educators is that the popular belief that the kids "just snap" isn't true. These incidents do not "occur out of the blue." There are warning signs and there is time to intervene. Privacy laws are not a barrier if there is a perceived threat to public safety, the instructors pointed out.

Frequency: The average number of active shooter incidents at schools has increased to an average of 20 per year over the past three years. This is up from an average of 7.

Run If You Can (and you know where the shooter is). Hide If You Can't. Fight as a Last Resort.
Image Credit: University of Pittsburgh

Recommended Response:

 

1. Run (if there is a clear path and you know the active shooter is another area)
2. Hide (lock down, barricade the door, turn off the HVAC, have kids under desks with cell phones off and cover windows if possible). Be invisible.
3. Fight (as a last resort, fight with anything you can find if your barricade fails). 
   1. Weapons available in most classrooms are:
      1. Your classroom fire extinguisher, which can be used to blind and then as a blunt object to strike.
      2. Baseball bat
      3. Chairs
      4. Trash cans
      5. Flag poles (most have a pointed tip that makes them a viable spear. Desperate times call for desperate measures)

I know we all agree that we hope this never happens in Marin, but, like any other disaster, knowing a little about it and how best to respond will hopefully help us all be a little safer.

eric.winkler@redcross.org