It’s our worst nightmare. Going about our days, hoping for the best; Simply trying to make it through the day only to hear a loud “CRACK” followed by screaming. The news in the past few weeks following the Buffalo NY, Uvalde Tx, and now the Tulsa, Ok shootings has been consistent in their coverage of these events. These are national headlines after all, and not to be ignored. It’s not my intention to scare you with this piece. These things are quite real, awful, and devastating to the communities affected. They are also, very survivable if you know what to do. I pulled a plethora of government training materials and with my training and experience in the Marine Corps Military Police, along with private security. Today, I want to talk to you about some of the things you can do right now to protect yourself, and some things to think about in the event, God forbid, anything like that would occur.
A shooting event unfolding around you is a terrifying prospect, and not something to be taken lightly. To understand this issue better, there is no particularly rigid definition for what a “Mass Shooting” is. Typically in the United States, mass shootings are typically a play off the description of mass murder which is four or more murders in the same incident with no ‘cooling off’ period. You can compare this to serial murder, where there has also never been a formal definition, yet it involves more than two murders with some length of separation in time between.
There is a strange distinction in the governing definitions, being that typically, our legislatures do not create these definitions, rather, a particular government entity would, and then spread these definitions through joint training for the purpose of reporting and data keeping. I say that due to the strange wording of the FBI and Homeland security.
“An active shooter is one or more person is actively engaging in the killing or attempted killing of people in a populated area, typically a firearm is involved.”
-FBI
Long story short, all shooting events in while in progress are “active shooters.” Once four or more people are injured (not necessarily shot). It will then be considered a Mass shooting by informal definition.
According to FBI crime statistics, the largest majority of active shooting incidents occur in places of business. Typically, these occur in places where pedestrians have access by foot, (so most places of business). There is no particular correlation that has been sufficiently stated as to why these events occur, but there are some likely reasons as to motivations behind many shooting events. Such as terrorism, domestic violence, and mental health issues.
What do I do?
Being aware
It’s important to understand that it would be extremely difficult to know for sure what would drive someone to do something like a shooting. One of the best ways to avoid most things in life would simply be to just pay more attention. In the military, there is this concept of “The Baseline.” This is your typical, course of events that you expect to deal with every day. You wake up, get dressed, go to work, do your job, and come home every day. You may not even remember what you had for lunch as you muddle through your job. Think of the things outside the baseline as things you’ll go home and tell your significant other about when you want them to think you witnessed something crazy or interesting. You should get into the mode of observing body language naturally. A good way to train yourself to do this is every day make a concerted effort to find something to complement a few people at your work daily. This actually solves two problems, one being that people will like and appreciate you more, as it builds rapport with your collogues. The other thing this little game does is it forces you to observes new things about people like, your co-worker Allie changes her hairstyle every week, and John John wears a new pair of shoes at the end of every week, oh look, since when did Steve start to carry a full tang knife on his belt… you see where I’m going with this?
Understanding your work’s safety and security policies and the capabilities of your security elements
As you go throughout your days at work. Take notice on what your work provides in terms of security. When I say capabilities, I mean anything that you can infer a company agent can do to an individual before police arrive. Most companies simply have cameras for reporting purposes. I want you to be aware that typically, the presence of cameras does not deter crime, nor is it the intent of the cameras to do so. Cameras exist to minimize liability, report incidents, and occasionally to serve as evidence in the event footage is subpoenaed for court proceedings. Step zero of preventing crime is the idea of the social contract. The idea that you and I have to live in this country together, therefore I will act as though everyone around me is a competent rational person deserving of the basic acknowledgement of their rights and basic respect. If your company authorizes security to act on behalf of the company’s interests, you need to understand that their jurisdiction stops at public property, I.E. if you live in the city, step on to the sidewalk, or into the street, private security cannot say, tell someone to leave the area if they’re being a nuisance. If a crime is being committed, private security can report, but may not risk the liability of operating outside of their property.
Sometimes private security guards have force options and even carry handcuffs. In the event of a shooting incident, security will be expected to use whatever force is available to them in order to protect you, their customer, and the property they represent. If security does not have weapons, logically their only expectation will be to report the incident and assist in the evacuation and try to assist in the recording of events for the record. Regardless of what is available to you, always make sure to review you company’s policies, and make note of safety features such as emergency exits and rooms with locks or exterior windows.
Sometimes, in more rare occasions, some companies allow you to carry your own weapons and self defense tools for personal use. Make sure you ask your company for their policies and procedures. It wouldn’t hurt to review them on occasion.
Run, Hide, Fight.
In the event something would occur. Don’t panic. It’s go time. Leave everything that isn’t attached to you. A phone for calling the police may or may not help. Your goal is to get as far away from the action as possible, and preferably, guide as many people with you to safety.
If you find yourself cornered inside a building, you should barricade in place and attempt to hide. Close yourself into the nearest office or closet that hopefully locks. if not, move all the furniture to the door, use teamwork with your co-workers if possible. If you can, attempt to calm the people around you. and find things to hide behind. You should understand too the difference between cover and concealment. Concealment being something that obfuscates the view of an observer. Cover would be anything that you could hide behind that would reasonably stop or deflect projectiles from hitting you.
While you hide, you need to prepare for what’s to come. Look for weapons of opportunity. Heavy paperweights, scissor blades, disassembled chair legs. Coach each other to be strong and prepared. If possible, designate one person who has a phone to be in contact with the police. Once the barricade is in place, use the phone in contact with the police to verify whomever may be attempting to enter. Lastly, do not give up hope. Help is on the way. From the moment the first call for help reaches 911, there will be a concerted effort across multiple agencies to get police inside the building to engage the threat, and neutralize it.
The response: what’s going on behind the scenes.
Being that this publication is based in Pearl, Mississippi, I think it’s pertinent for the citizens of Mississippi to know that it is Mississippi law that allows public services departments to participate in SMAC, (Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement Compact).
what this does is allow any Law Enforcement Agency to request officers from other Jurisdictions to assist in emergency events. In the Pearl Highschool Shooting of 1997, this compact was put into use. I asked how this policy took affect. According to a former Pearl PD officer that was on scene, there where officers responding from Pearl, Rankin county, Highway Patrol, Jackson, Hinds County, Brandon, and Ridgeland departments. This is made possible due to SMAC and the shared radio networks that allow different agencies to share information in real time.
I want to take a moment to address the particularly egregious actions of the officers in the Uvalde, Tx shooting. Typically, since the Columbine High massacre, police have been trained nation wide to a doctrine sometimes referred to “Direct to threat.” This training focuses on the law enforcement response for the first responders, establishing that the first few officers on scene are to coordinate if possible, and immediately seek and neutralize all threats in the area using necessary force. The subsequent officers will assist in searching for any possible hidden threats or focus on securing the area, and establishing an on site command structure using the NIMS system to organize officers and other assisting organizations into teams. This allows Police, Fire, and EMS to respond quickly and efficiently to any crisis event. If done effectively, all of these factors come together to serve and protect you.
I hope you found this information useful. I want you, dear reader, to be thinking about these incidents not in the negative sense. I don’t want you to live your lives in fear, because I know you have what it takes to not only survive, but thrive out in this crazy world. With this knowledge in your grasp, you too can be more prepared for the unexpected!
1 https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/active_shooter_booklet.pdf
2 https://www.msema.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/SMAC.pdf
3https://sheriff.carrollcountymd.gov/assets/7signs.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2y1O1JH8CR2fOtsOTxI086sbFlSD39G1V2HxT7Nb7bRciTCG_q5akKtB8
4 https://www.secondsight-ts.com/threat-assessment-blog/active-shooter-threat-assessment?fbclid=IwAR2es218wZA3jAVHwNRsvYyUwB39TmKFhKSQDs8nYrQokBmf2H6HJPc3jEE
5 https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/nims
6 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/doj-review-uvalde-shooting-delay-confronting-gunman-rcna31415
7https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre
8 https://policeteststudyguide.com/what-is-the-force-continuum/
9 https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/gun-violence-prevention
10 https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/terrorism
11 https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/firearms/fastfact.html
12 https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder#two
13 https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/active-shooter-incidents-in-the-us-2021-052422.pdf/view
14 https://www.fbi.gov/about/partnerships/office-of-partner-engagement/active-shooter-resources