In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in
Newtown Connecticut, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has
provided information for awareness of Active Shooter Incidents to the
public, should they become involved in an Active Shooter situation.
Over the next few weeks, the Sonora Police Department will
release a series of four (4) articles covering the above described
information from Homeland Security. We hope you find these articles
useful and informative.
Please note these are individual measures and should not be
used if in conflict with established protocols trained to you at your
workplace.
Profile of an Active Shooter
An Active Shooter is an individual actively engaging in killing
or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area; in most
cases there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims.
Active Shooter situations are unpredictable and evolve extremely
quickly. They can occur at almost any location (i.e. Schools, malls,
businesses, office buildings, restaurants, ext…) Typically, the
immediate deployment of Law Enforcement is required to stop the shooting
and mitigate harm to victims.
Because Active Shooter incidents are often over within 5-15
minutes, before Law Enforcement arrives on scene, individuals must be
prepared both mentally and physically to deal with an active shooter
situation.
Good practices for coping with an Active Shooter situation
1) Be aware of your environment and any possible dangers. Situational
awareness and perceived threats is important in any day to day
activity.
2) Take note of the nearest exits in any facility you visit. This is
beneficial to you for any type of emergency situation (i.e. Active
Shooter, fire, earthquake, violent storms, ext…)
3) If in an office or enclosed area, try to close and secure the door
if something should happen. This is often referred to as sheltering in
place.
4) If in a hallway, find a room and secure the door behind you, then
stand away from the door incase the shooter shoots through the door.
5) Last resort measures should be attempting to engage the shooter
and incapacitating them. This might require you to use any measures you
can think of and utilizing any weapons you can find or items that you
can use as a weapon (i.e. chairs, fire extinguishers, file cabinet
drawers, cleaning products, ext…) If you do engage the shooter, you
should continue to engage them until they are no longer a threat or they
are incapacitated.
6) Always be aware of the potential of multiple shooters.
7) Call 911 at the safest time available.
Next time we will look at evacuating, hiding out and taking action against the active shooter, a little more in depth.
