The Key Elements Of An Active Shooter Call
Active Shooter calls are a real threat to the nation. The days where those calls only occurred in significant metro areas are gone. Active Shooter situations can happen anywhere at any time in America.
Take a look at these stories from around the nation. The first active shooter of 2018 happened in rural Kentucky. A 15-year-old student walked into an atrium full of classmates and fired a semiautomatic pistol. There were a total of 2 students who were killed. 21 sustained non life threatening injuries while they were trying to escape the stray bullets. The suspect was arrested, and he is facing felony murder and attempted murder charges. 1
In October 2006, Charlie Roberts, a local milk truck driver, walked inside the West Nickel Mines Amish School, located in Bart Township, PA. Roberts brandished a weapon and ordered the teacher and four visitors to leave the classroom. Eventually, he ordered the male children to go as well.
Roberts left ten girls with him inside the classroom. The teacher ran to a nearby home where she called 911 and informed the authorities about the situation. When police arrived, Roberts ordered them to step back immediately, or he would shoot all the girls.
The situation quickly changed to an active shooter when the barricaded subject decided to end it all by shooting all the girls he had as hostages.
A brave 13-year-old asked Roberts to kill her first instead of her classmates. Roberts ended up shooting at all the girls then killed himself.
As soon as Roberts began shooting, police entered the building to find pools of blood and children dying. Some of those officers experienced children dying in their hands. Medical services, helicopters, and other aid arrived at the location. Some victims survived, others were not that lucky and perished during the ordeal. 2
As you see, situations like these could happen in the most unexpected places. These type of cases are frustrating to law enforcement officers in rural areas. The lack of resources makes the already hard job even worse during these high-stress calls. Some counties around the nation only have two deputies working the whole county. Imagine responding to an active shooter knowing the closest backup is more than one hour away.
As law enforcement professionals, we cannot surrender through these adversities. Our job is to protect life and stop threats. It doesn’t matter where you work. Whether the aim is to end the threat(s), to provide aid to immediate victims or to escort medical personnel to continue the rescue efforts, the response is going to be the same in rural America or larger metro areas.
Let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of rural policing during an active shooter call. First, let’s start with the pros. While working for a small community, the relationship ties are stronger. You’ll know the people around you and the troublemakers as well. Also, you’ll know the schools, businesses and other establishments in your community.
You can use this information to your advantage. In a large metro area, law enforcement officers don’t know the layout of all schools in those districts. Officers responding to the call won’t know where the gym is or Mrs. Thompson’s science classroom. Use this information to learn where the weak points of the building are, and where the best staging area for ambulances is located. As well as the safety plan the school has implemented.
If the school, business, or establishment doesn’t have a plan, work with them to create one. This information will establish good working relationships as well as tactical knowledge.
As mentioned before, some disadvantages would be the lack of resources. Rural areas might not have an immediate SWAT team or enough ambulances for a mass casualty scenario. Explore the nearby resources from surrounding communities.
Can you call the SWAT team from the next community? Can your department develop an active shooter entry team to respond to these calls? Can you locate the closest air medical evacuation?
The solutions are there as long as you put the work, effort, and understanding in to what it takes to make all these plans happen.
No matter what your current resources are, one thing you have wherever you respond is your training. Learn the tactics, weapons, and best practices gained from other active shooter calls in the U.S. One thing is certain, if you are the first person to show up to an active shooter call, you are going in!
You are going with two missions in mind, stop the threat(s) and provide medical aid, if necessary. If you think you’ll be staging outside until other officers respond with you or SWAT arrives on the scene, I can tell you something right now. Leave this job and find a 9–5. This job isn’t for you -sorry. Self-preservation is the last thing you’ll need. I’m not saying you’ll have to have tombstone courage, but you’ll need the courage to stop the part of the brain which tells you “RUN AWAY.”
To combat these thoughts, you’ll need to have the right knowledge which develops into the proper tools. Let’s learn some facts about active shooters, medical care, and three keys elements in an active shooter situation.
Columbine High School shooting in Colorado is the predecessor of active shooter tactics. The shooting was out of the ordinary since no one ever shot children inside a school at that capacity in the past. There were two shooters which used diversion techniques to confuse first responders. Inside the high school, officers found approximately 99 homemade bombs.
The shooters used semiautomatic weapons as well as shotguns and knives. The two gunmen killed 15 people and injured 24.
An FBI study from 2000–2013, indicated there were 160 active shooter cases they studied. Those yielded over 450 deaths and over 500 people injured.
Areas of commerce were more likely to be attacked than educational institutions. Of those educational institutions, 16% were high schools and below.
Majority of the time, the shooter committed suicide before being captured by law enforcement agents.
According to this report, researchers found out that “Fourteen of these incidents occurred in classrooms or hallways; three occurred in the cafeteria; two in administrative offices; two in school board meeting rooms; two in school when the class was not in session; and four outside of the school building.” 3
Taking all these facts into consideration, you can see you are more likely to encounter an active shooter scenario where people gather for commerce, like a grocery store or during a big holiday sale.
This knowledge gives you the advantage to prepare ahead of time and execute the best plan of action.
Lets talk about medical facts to keep yourself alive and stay in the fight. Remember, if you can’t fight, you can’t stop the threat.
Prepare yourself to be shot. Yes, you could be shot. Does that mean you are out of the fight? Absolutely not.
The human body holds about 5 liters of blood. If you get shot, you can lose up to 2 liters of blood before your body goes into shock. Visualize losing 2 liters, purchase a liter soda and fill it with red liquid (Kool-Aid, animal blood). Make a hole in the cap and slowly pour it on the ground. You’ll see that 2 liters is a lot.
This visualization will help you see how much blood it will take for your body to go into shock. Stay in the fight!
If you get shot in the extremities, arms or legs, then use a tourniquet. The most common tourniquet applied in combat is the Combat Application Tourniquet, also known as, CAT.
CAT can help you stop the bleeding until further medical evacuation arrives. Remember, using a tourniquet when it isn’t necessary is okay; Not using it when it is needed is FATAL!
Finally, the essential elements to consider:
1) Communication- Remember, multiple agencies will respond to help you. Everyone has their channels, lingo, and codes. Use plain language and be clear on your instructions. If specific information is not a priority, then wait for other information to transmit.
2) Self-Control- Learn your skills and practice them. Learn medical aid. You could save someone else’s life or even your own. Breathe and visualize what you are going to do. You can’t control the whole scenario, but you can control yourself.
3) Learn to work with other agencies- Not only law enforcement agencies will show up. EMS, Fire Firefighters, volunteers and even people who want to help will be there. Train with them, show them your skills and plans. Most importantly, learn each other’s tactics!
I hope the information you learned helps you develop a plan to stop the threat, provide medical help and mitigate the scene during an active shooter scenario.
Please share this information. It could save lives!
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Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for education and information only. The use of this information is the responsibility of the user. Use this information as a guide. More training and experience is required to execute the information successfully.
