1. A.D.D.
Avoid, deny & defend
Active shooter preparation and response

2. Why Prepare? Reaching epidemic proportions and increasing
Only the high-casualty producing events make the news
Most incidents occur where shooter has been undeterred and unobstructed
Soft Targets:
Limited active security measures or armed personnel

3. Why Prepare? Numbers continue to increase, including 2011 and 20121
1ALERRT / TX State ASE Study

4. Why Prepare?
Imagine… one armed man walks into your building, walks from area to area with a handgun or shotgun, shooting everyone he sees.
Was it easy to get in?
A lot of potential victims?
Do we all know what to do?
Where to go?
How to react?
The time to prepare is now.

5. Definition
Active shooter is defined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined or populated area; in most cases, active shooters use firearms and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims.

6. Definition
Active shooter is a general term for a homicide in progress and may or may not involve guns.
Can also be a person with a knife stabbing people
Simple terms:
One or more persons engaged in killing or attempting to kill multiple people in an area occupied by multiple unrelated individuals.

7. Characteristics of AS Situations
Happens quickly
Gun shots, bodies and bloody victims, yelling/screaming, people running and hiding
Happens everywhere
Post offices
Businesses
Schools
Military bases
Churches
Hospitals
By Location1
37% - Business
34% - Schools
17% - Outdoor/public venues
12% - Other – churches, bases etc
20% - Mobile to another location
40% - No relationship to location
1ALERRT / TX State ASE Study

8. The Suspect Mindset Deliberate Focused Coward - Bully
Uncaring - Detached
Coward - Bully
Many kill themselves when confronted by the police
Do not care who you are, they just want to kill as many people as they can
Will not listen to reason or pleading. They have nothing to lose

9. The Suspect1 92% male Most often between 21 and 50
As young as 13 and as old as 88
All shooters studied had some amount of planning
35% performed extensive planning
Floor plans/diagrams
Hit list
Equipment/supplies
Body armor
Manifesto

10. Planning and Preparation
The time to win is BEFORE the attack
Vigilance
Pay attention to strange people and events
Effective process for reporting same
Limit access to the facility as much as practical
Develop a unified emergency response plan
Conduct training
Mental preparation– think through likely events
Periodic training of the response system
Develop policies, procedures and medical plans
Including your own people – work place violence

11. Sound the Alarm
Every business, school, church and hospital should have some form of emergency notification system
Capable of reaching all occupants immediately
Capable of initiation from anywhere
Unique to active shooter / armed intruder
Should be drilled periodically
Train personnel what to do when the alert is activated
Recognition of event
Decision making
Echo the alert
Shelter in place or evacuate

12. Response to the Event Three stages in crisis event Denial Deliberation
Decisive Moment

13. Denial
Common for people to not admit that they are in a disaster or underestimate the severity costing time and lives
Normalcy Bias – Expecting things to be like they always are, the brain will first try to describe the new situation as normal, delaying action
Social Proof - In novel or ambiguous situations we look to others for information on how to act. If others are doing nothing, you will tend to do nothing and if others are acting, you will tend to act

14. Denial Need to get past denial phase as quickly as possible
Be vigilant – be aware of strange people or events
If you hear gunshots of something that could be gunshots, act as if it is an active shooter
Get to deliberation phase as quickly as possible
Training is the key
Identify the characteristics of an active shooter event
Stress inoculation helps get through the denial phase
Unified and standard response helps reduce delay
Action plan helps manage fear

15. Deliberation A decision must be made about what to do
This can be a problem…
Your brain probably won’t be functioning as well because of the stress
When the reflective (thinking) brain is impaired, we are left with the reflexive (reactive) brain
Flight
Fight
Freeze – Always the wrong choice
You will not have time to develop new plans
Taking time to decide may cost you / others their lives

16. Decisive Moment / Action
Once a decision is made to enact the plan, be aggressive and move with a purpose
Having a plan of action is the first step to survival
Think through possible events and responses
Practice the response
Shift your emotion
Statistically, after the police are notified of an active shooter incident, they will have around a min ETA.
Active shooters don’t have much time
They will make the most of the time they have, killing as many people as possible

17. Decisive Action Avoid the confrontation Deny access to your location
The basic response plan – A.D.D.
Avoid the confrontation
Deny access to your location
Defend yourself

18. Avoid Be vigilant – be aware of strange people or events
Sound the alarm (if feasible)
Get away from the danger
Exit the area by any means possible
Take whomever you can with you
Call for help – give descriptions
Know escape routes for your location
Exits, windows, stairwells
Decide to leave or shelter in place
Often depends on suspect’s location

19. Deny
If unable to get out of the building, deny access to where you are
Know your work areas and be familiar with rooms that lend themselves as good barricades
Badge access doors
Solid doors
No windows
Possible escape route
Communications

20. Deny Make it very difficult to reach you
Barricade the doors with ties, belts, bars, chairs
Barricade and/or darken windows
Put as many locked doors and objects in the way
Stay out of sight
Call for help – give descriptions
Go back into avoid mode
Median time for a police response from first call is 3 min1
Median time from first report to event ending is also 3 min1
Shooting had stopped before LE arrival in 49%1
By 9 min, 73% of assailants had stopped shooting1

21. Shot and Killed at Virginia Tech
Room 206 – The shooting started here. Shooter walked in and started killing people. He left and returned later to shoot more people.
Room 211 – Teacher heard shots told student to call Students attempted to block door with desk. The shooter pushed his way in, shot the professor and walked down the aisle killing students. The shooter returned later and shot more students.
Room 207 – Second room attacked. Shooter walked in and shot several students and the teacher. He then walked down the aisles shooting students. The shooter left. Shooter attempted to return. Students used their bodies to barricade the door. Shooter got door 1 inch open. Also fired several shots into the door knob area. No one was hit by these shots.
Room 204 – Professor Liviu Librescu (a holocaust survivor), held the door shut when the shooter tried to enter. Librescu yelled at his students to jump out of the windows. Shooter shot Librescu through the door, killing him. 10 students made it out of the windows before shooter got in. Two more were shot trying to get out (both survived). Of the 6 who did not get out, 4 were shot and one of those shot died.
Room Students heard the shots and used their their feet to keep the door closed. The shooter pushed on and fired through the door, but never gained entry.

22. Deny The number of deaths is affected by two factors
How quickly the police respond
How quickly the shooter can find victims
Its up to you to slow the rate at which the shooter can find victims…

23. Defend
If you cannot leave, or the suspect is already in your area, defend yourself in any way possible
Find improvised weapons
Chairs, pipes, fire extinguisher, pencils, pens, bag of rocks, feet and fists
Get as close as you can to the access point before the shooter enters
Try to get a hold of the gun and get it pointed away
Use a “pack” mentality and swarm the shooter
Do not stop
19% of incidents, would-be victims subdued the attacker1

24. The suspect is trying to kill you!
Defend
Hiding only works for so long
There are very few things that will stop a bullet in most locations
Have a survivor’s (not a victim’s) mindset
Decide right now that your are going to do whatever it takes to survive
Getting shot does not mean that you are dead
You can and must keep going!
Remember…
The suspect is trying to kill you!

25. When Police Arrive Report to 911 and Officers
Location and number of attacker(s)
Physical descriptions and weapons
Location of victims / potential victims
What to expect
Uniformed and plain clothes – multiple agencies
Primary goal – Stop the killing
Priority of work
Find and confront the shooter
Will NOT stop to help the wounded
Will NOT escort people out
Help the wounded
Clear people from the building

26. When Police Arrive Understanding the POLICE point of view
The situation will be chaotic
They do not know who is a victim or suspect
They will treat everyone as a suspect until proven otherwise
Officers will be experiencing high stress, just like you

27. When Police Arrive Respond Appropriately
Follow commands (you might be handcuffed)
Keep your hands visible at all times
Do not move or move slowly if you must

28. Aftermath This will be an extremely traumatic event
The buildings and grounds will be considered a crime scene and will be closed for some time
All rescued persons will be held for statements, identification and treatment
Expect mental trauma
Shock
Nightmares
PTSD
Survivor’s guilt
Critical incident stress management plan

29. Planning and Training Policies, procedures and medical equipment
Periodic training is a must
Test the alert / notification system
Begin with table top exercises with managers
Move to walk-through training
Graduate to full scenario training
Most people will revert to even the most basic training and rehearsals during stressful events
Without a plan, panic, fear and indecision usually take over

30. Sample AS Policy
Our organization places the highest priority on the preservation of the lives of our employees and customers. If an active shooter event should occur, our employees shall use the Avoid, Deny, Defend model.
If it is safe for them to do so, employees should exit the facility immediately to AVOID the shooter(s).
If employees are unable to safely exit the facility, they should lock themselves in their current location and barricade the door to DENY the shooter(s) access.
In the event that employees are unable to utilize the AVOID and DENY strategies successfully, they should DEFEND themselves using whatever means are available.
Regardless of the option(s) utilized, employees shall call emergency services (911) as soon as it is safe to do so.
In the event of an active shooter incident, all employees will be required to undergo mandatory mental health counseling.

31. Resources
I Love You Guys Foundation – Standard Response Protocol iloveyouguys.org Force Science Institute – The Lethal Employee forcescience.org FEMA – IS 907 – Active Shooter – What You Can Do training.fema.gov ALERRT – U.S. Active Shooter Events alerrt.org YouTube – Run, Hide and Fight
I love you guys foundation – Father of Emily Keyes killed in 2006 in Platte Canyon Colorado active shooter/hostage situation. Developed very good and simple visual emergency standard response protocol for schools. Offers free sample materials etc.
Their presentation was given to the Texas School Board (TSB) and will likely be adopted statewide.