1. Preparing for a Violent Intruder
Officer Hillary A. DaDalt
School Resource Officer
Town of Sturbridge

2. Has anyone ever heard of ALICE?

3. Not those, this one….

4. Objectives 1) To learn strategies beyond a standard lockdown approach
2) To recognize that you have options if you find yourself in a violent intruder situation
3) Review the ALICE protocol – how does it fit and and its’ approach to violent intruder situations
4) Practical Exercises

5. Response Options: Where We Started Lockdown
Traditional Response Lockdown
Not a one-size-fits-all approach
Basic assumptions
The violence started somewhere else
Help will arrive in time
What is the problem with lockdown? Absolutely nothing as long as it is part of a comprehensive school safety approach. The problem with lockdown is when it is used as a sole source strategy to survive a violent intruder event.
Lockdown actually started in the 1970s in Los Angeles as a response to keep violence out of school when there was gang violence approaching school grounds. The problem is that once violence started entering our schools, we continued to do only what we knew at the time: lock the doors and sit and wait for help to arrive. The problem is that help does not always arrive on time.
3a) One of the problems with this approach is that we assume that the violence started someplace else. We assume that we are going to have time to lock our doors and sit and wait for help to arrive. The reality is that the violence starts in some location in the school environment. How can we train school staff to better be prepared for when school violence starts in the part of the building they are in?
3b) We know that on average, active shooters are firing one shot every 4 – 15 seconds and that on average, it takes 8 minutes for police to arrive and locate the target. This includes the following time: On average, 1-2 minutes before someone will even call 911, the time it takes dispatch to take the information and send help, the time it takes police to drive to the scene, make entry, and then locate and eliminate the threat. This is the total time that you will be exposed to danger.
- Virginia Tech had the fastest response time of any active shooter event as the police were only 800 yards away when the shooting started. It took 3 minutes for two swat teams to respond and locate the threat. However, 30 people died in the process.

6. December 2, 2015 San Bernardino, California 14 Dead, 22 Wounded
Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. The two attackers, who were married, were killed in a gun battle with police. Inspired by ISIS.

7. June 12, 2016 Orlando Florida 50 Killed, 53 Wounded
At the time, it was the worst shooting in modern history. Shooter entered a gay nightclub and, after killing 50 people, was killed by the SWAT team.

8. October 1, 2017 Las Vegas, Nevada 59 Killed, 546 Wounded
Perpetrator opened fire on approximately 22,000 concertgoers at the Harvest Music Festival from hotel room. This incident is the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history by an individual.

9. Big Three School Related
Columbine
Virginia Tech
Sandy Hook

10. Case Study: Columbine High School Library
Announcement is made for violent intruder
Students utilize their training
12 students and 1 teacher killed overall
24 wounded
EXIT
Play Columbine High School tape
2) The students at Columbine did exactly what they were trained to do. They sat and waited for help. On the 911 tape, you can hear the teacher in the library telling the students to stay down and to remain calm. She did this for five minutes before the door to the library was breached by the gunmen. Meanwhile, there was an exit a few feet away. When did the students start to leave the library? Not until the gunman was in the library.
4) Of those 10 individuals who were killed were killed in the library and 12 of those injured were injured in the library. These students did everything right. They used their training. The problem was they only utilized one approach: ALERT, LOCKDOWN.

11. Has 13 Years of Using a Lock Down Only Approach Yielded Any Improvements?

12. Lockdown Only No Longer An Option
Lockdown only can no longer be an option
US Department of Education Guide for Developing High- Quality School Emergency Operation Plans (June 2013)
NYPD Recommendations (Jan, 2012, 2013)
International Association of Chiefs of Police (October 2009)
Department of Homeland Security (October 2008)
There have been a host of recommendations that state that you cannot have a lockdown only approach as your sole approach to violent intruder scenarios.

13. Something is always better…

14. Let’s Enhance, Not Change
Turn Alert and Lockdown into:
Alert
Lockdown
Inform
Counter and / or
Evacuate
These do not have to occur in this order!
The important piece of this that we really want to stress as we begin reviewing the different strategies that you can use this morning is to do what you are capable of and what you are comfortable doing based on the situation that you find yourself in. We are asking you to do nothing more than what you feel you can do.

15. Alert
In most cases, we think of this as the principal coming over the PA system and announcing the lockdown
What would you do if this was not the alert you heard?
Need to be prepared to allow anyone to make the call
What goes out in the call
What about the emotional safety of our everyone?
This is what we have been trained to do.
You need to remember that in some cases, the office staff may be injured and unable to call the lockdown. Your first alert may be gunshots. It could be someone running down the hallway screaming that someone has a weapon. How would you respond?
At this point in the presentation, it is very typical for someone to say, what happens if it’s a false alarm? What if someone put out on the PA system that there was a threat when there was no threat present. The response to this is, wouldn’t you rather have a false alarm than have no report and many people injured? Also, anyone should call If you saw the threat, you have much more information that you can pass along. Remember, seconds count. Do not wait for someone else to make the call.
As much information as possible. We no longer want the response to be, “Lockdown there’s a gunman in the building.” We want you to say as much information as possible. For example, “There is a gun man wearing a red t-shirt with a red sox baseball cap and blue shorts. He is located on the first floor in front of the main office and he is walking toward to gymnasium.” If you recognize the student, call him / her by name. We want the student to know first that we see them, that we know who they are, and that we are initiating our plans. This works to get into their psyche and supports your response plan at the same time.
Students and staff are going to have a reaction the minute they hear information or gun shots regardless of what you put out on the PA. However, providing real-time information and updates can actually work to reduce the impact of developing a severe trauma reaction as people feel they were informed and prepared as the event was unfolding.

16. Lockdown You might start here to give a moment to think
Works if you are in the immediate threat area
Lockdown is a great starting point. It’s the freeze that gives you that moment to decide what it is that you are going to do next.
For example, the purple area in this school would likely lock down immediately. However, those not in the immediate threat zone are not currently in harm. Why should we treat them as though they were? These are the rooms that need to be given options. We do not want to make them a target when at the present time they are not at risk.
GUNMAN IN THE MAIN OFFICE!

17. Inform This is critical to the entire approach.
Continue to give us much information as possible
Do not use a red or green card to inform
With inform, you are providing real time updates as to what is going on. For instance, if the gun man walked into the main office and then turned left in this building, the threat zone has now changed. However, students and staff that were presently locking down, now know that they have other options.
When we come around to the other buildings, we will be training on how to get information out as quickly as possible to the entire building. We will review what you need to dial to get on the PA system. If the shooter passes your room and it is safe to do so, get on the intercom, say where he is going. Note any information possible.
This only lets the shooter know there are people in your room if you are looking down. Law enforcement will need to clear each room regardless as to what the color card shows.

18. Counter Worse case scenario Barricade the door
Tie the handle of the door
What if the suspect makes entry?
If you feel as though you can take the suspect out, do so.
What do I do with the weapon?
This is by far the worst case scenario. The shooter is in your area and may make entry into your room. What do you do?
Take everything you can and stack it in front of the door. Place items strategically. If there is a glass door on your window, it is likely that the shooter will break the glass to get into your room. Is there a way that you can place items strategically so that you have the upper hand when this happens? Can you place items that will guide the individual into the room
Take a belt or an extension cord and tie it around the handle of the door. Take multiple people to hold the cord and back away from the door and up against a wall or out of sight as much as possible. Remember, do not worry about breaking things under these circumstances. If you need to break a computer cord to tie your door closed, it is okay!
Throw something and keep moving. It is much harder for the suspect to shoot and shoot accurately when there are multiple objects being thrown at him / her. Anything works. Throw textbooks, staplers, desks, chairs, notebooks, backpacks. If you can lift it, throw it. Also, it is much harder to hit a moving target. Do not sit still.
Many active shooter events have been stopped by citizens and teachers. Most of the time, simply talking someone down will not work. 40% of these incidents are resolved by a citizen taking action and putting an end to the scenario.
Do not pick it up. Take the trash can in the classroom, put it over the weapon, and have someone sit on the trashcan. The last thing you want is for law enforcement to arrive, see you with the gun, and accidently perceive you to be the threat. Putting the trashcan over the weapon will be our signal to law enforcement that this is where the weapon is located. If you are the one with the weapon, please be aware that you may initially be treated like a threat.
Play Fox and Friends

19. Why Barricade?: Lessons from Virginia Tech
Passive Rooms
Room 206 (14 people)
10 Killed
2 Wounded
Room 211 (19 people)
12 Killed
6 Wounded
Proactive
Room 204 (19 people)
2 Killed
3 Wounded
Room 205 (12 people)
0 Killed
0 Wounded
Room 207 (13 people)
5 Killed
6 Wounded
Room 204 Had individuals who jumped
Room 205 had individuals who barricaded the door
In room 207, the suspect entered the room, shot, and left. Once he left, they barricaded in order to prevent re-entry.

20. Evacuate
Provides staff and students with the ability and authority to evacuate
Should always be done if it is safe to do so and follows a natural response
Removes as many potential targets as possible
Rally point
People are going to do this anyway. If you can get out safely the minute that the event starts, get out. There is no need to sit around and wait.
4) Each building is also going to have a rally point and a reunification point. When you get to the rally point, take attendance. Remember, your initial rally point may not be the reunification site. If you are not at the reunification site, make your way there if it is safe. If it is not safe, sit and wait. Someone will eventually come to find you! When we get to training in your building, we will discuss where the rally point and reunification points will be for each building. However, if you cannot get there, stay in a safe area.

21. How Does this All Work? ALICE Intruder Training Video
ALICE - Auburn School District
Cut video after ALICE part. Do not play end regarding Run, Hide, Fight.

22. ANY QUESTIONS?