Active shooter response in the shop

Active shooter events, now often referred to as active killer attacks, were all but unheard of 50 years ago. Now, however, we’re not even surprised to learn of such news coverage.

The locations, or targets, of such attacks – primarily committed by an individual – used to be limited to educational institutions, but that is no longer true. It behooves us to be aware of not only the possibility, but of our options for response should an attack occur at the workplace or anyplace we are.

HISTORY

The history of active shooter events can be documented to 1896 when a disgruntled janitor fired a shotgun at kindergarten-aged children through the windows of an elementary school.

As far back as 1927, we have record of improvised explosive devices being used to accompany a school attack and maximize casualties. A disgruntled employee of the Bath Consolidated School, Bath Township, Mich., used dynamite placed in the basement boiler room of that school to cause initial casualties. The school was evacuated to an outside rally area where a second set of dynamite-driven devices exploded, causing a second set of casualties and a greater level of fear. The Bath bombings – wherein 45 people were killed – remains the deadliest school murder spree in U.S. history, eclipsing mass shootings at Columbine High School, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook Elementary School.

From 1926 to 1966, active shooter or mass attack events weren’t really mainstream news, and news of such occurrences took longer to spread. The telegraph and telephone were the main news expansion devices of the time period. Although news could be communicated from coast-to-coast in a matter of minutes, it then had to either be transmitted via radio or printed and distributed via newspaper. The result was a delay in the delivery of any horrific attack.

That same time frame contained both World Wars, the Korean War, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the beginning years of the Vietnam War. It’s easy to understand that news of a school attack might get buried on page two of a national newspaper.

SWAT TEAMS

There were actually very few active shooter events between 1926 and 1966, and those that did occur were often dealt with by armed citizens rather than waiting for a response from law enforcement professionals. In 1966, the infamous Texas Tower incident occurred and it caught the attention of the national news media in a big way.

A single shooter, Charles Whitman, barricaded himself at the top of the tower on the University of Texas campus in Austin. From his perch he engaged targets as far away as 500 yards. He shot 46 people, killing 15 of them. Whitman was an ex-Marine Corps trained “sniper.”

That incident, along with a few others around the nation, spurred the creation of our country’s first SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) teams. By 1970, there were several teams activated with the specific mission of handling the high-risk situations that the average patrol officer wasn’t equipped for. Most of those teams were comprised of military veterans and, given the times, combat veterans.

FREQUENCY

For the next 33 years, our nation saw an increase in the number of active shooter events that occurred annually. High-risk events of all types climbed as the U.S population increased and the high-density population centers became ever more crowded.

From 1966 to 1999, the frequency of active shooter events increased from one every couple of decades to at least two per year. This escalation has been blamed on everything from the advent of television to the development of first-person-shooter video games to as CIA mass drug experiment programs.

In 1999, the Columbine attack took place and became the first active shooter event to be shown live on national television via satellite coverage. It changed an active shooter attack from something we heard about well after the fact to something citizens saw firsthand via their television.

It also showed, for the first time ever, law enforcement officers taking cover away from the shooting while it was obvious that students inside the school were still being actively hunted and killed. The reality of that caused a public outrage that resulted in a change of law enforcement tactics. The Active Shooter Response revolution was born.

The evolution of Active Shooter Response continues as tactics and protocols change to adjust for ever-evolving criminal tactics. The locations have also changed. No longer primarily occurring at schools, active shooter attacks have occurred in churches, malls, business buildings, post offices, parks, athletic arenas and more.

While it used to be assumed that active shooter events would be narrowly confined to high-emotional-response impact target locations like schools, such an assumption is no longer valid – or safe.

WHAT TO DO

We have to recognize that in every work space in America today, there is the potential for an active shooter event. This reality necessitates the preparation of attitude and education for response options.

Recommended response guidelines – developed by the Department of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Justice Administration – go by the easy-to-remember acronym ALICE. It stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate.

The recommendation are described in an accompanying sidebar.

Another response option is often shortened to Run, Hide, Fight. This means exactly what it says. If an attack occurs and you can run away without making a target of yourself, do so. If you can’t safely run away, then hide as best you can. As a last option, fight – because it’s better than simply being a non-resistant target.

 
WORK SPACE

How does all this apply in fleet maintenance or garage facilities? To apply either response option, it is important to understand a few things.

First, realize that not everyone is even capable of fighting back. Some people – and this is just reality, not criticism – will freeze in panic and not be capable of any response at all. Some will only be capable of running away. Some will be capable of fighting back, and those are of the people who can stop the attacks if they have properly prepared, understand the dynamics of the situation and have the tools to counter the attack.

Given that our nation has been at war for the past 15 years, there are a larger number of service veterans in the work force than any time since the early 1970s. That means we have, potentially, a greater number of warriors in our work place than we have had for the past four decades.

Their presence is definitely helpful and positive in a crisis event. Don’t underestimate their value or their guidance.

Second, examine your work spaces to identify the contributing factors of an attack’s failure or success. What are the access and exit points? What doors can be locked and which can’t? Which doors can be easily breached – such as wooden or hollow core doors in wooden frames – and which ones are truly access limiters – such as steel doors in metal frames?

Keeping in mind the ALICE response protocol. Where is the nearest phone? It is usually in one’s pocket or in one’s work space. What spaces are available to hide in?

The idea of hiding begs the question of what is only concealment – something that hides you – and what is cover – something that will stop incoming bullets. 

Where fleet facilities are concerned, it’s vital to understand that common vehicle doors do not stop bullets. Most modern ammunition will easily go completely through a vehicle and still have enough energy to kill a person on the other side of it. 

Hiding behind or inside vehicles is only concealment, and that is not being truly safe. In this single bit of safety information, Hollywood movies and common television shows do a disservice by depicting vehicles as “bullet proof.”

CONSIDERATIONS FOR FIGHTING BACK

It’s recommended that time is spent examining work spaces. What is hard steel and what is sheet steel? What is the closest exit point and what options are there for hiding? In common work spaces, what “weapons” are available for a counter attack?

In 38 states now, the gun permitting system is “Shall Issue,” which means if you have no criminal history, are 21 years old and file the application for a carry permit, the state has to grant it to you in a timely fashion.

This does not mean that a person can carry a gun at work. That depends on the employer’s policies and personnel guidelines. Just because a person cannot carry a gun legally or because of an organization’s rules, that does that mean no weapons exist for fighting back.

Improvised weapons are a danger to limb and life and can literally be anything a person can use to cause harm. If an individual cannot escape and cannot hide, and if they are simply driven by personal values to fight back, they should do so with a vigor and commitment to ceasing the attack as quickly as they can. As the saying goes: If you’re going to fight, fight like you’re the third monkey on the ramp into Noah’s Ark, and brother, it’s starting to rain.

Anything and everything can be used as a weapon. Some will be weapons of distraction – doing nothing but keeping the attacker from being able to get a steady aim on a person. Anything that will make the attacker duck, dodge or otherwise deviate from a stable shooting platform is a distraction and shouldn’t be underestimated in its value.

Other weapons will actually do damage and cause injury to the shooter. Such weapons can be impact weapons, things like wrenches, crowbars, hammers, etc. Other weapons can be stabling weapons, things like screwdrivers, smaller pry bars, drill bits and such.

If the work space has anything that fires a projectile, something like a nail gun or similar tool, then you have a weapon to “shoot” with even if it’s not firing bullets.

TO DO

Before you make decisions on how you’ll fight back, you need to do a couple of things:

- Analyze the work space.

- Identify what options there are for escaping, hiding or fighting back. Read and heed your company policies. In a lot of work places, despite state law, firearms are prohibited.

As well intentioned as this is, it actually limits one’s response options and increases the attacker’s chance of inflicting higher casualty rates. In documented events, where active shooters are neutralized by responding law enforcement, the average number of casualties is nine. In those situations where the active shooter is neutralized by an armed citizen, the average death toll is two.

Should your organization’s policy prohibit the legal carry of firearms, I recommend that you use your channels of communication up through your chain of command and your human relations department to request/suggest that such restricting policies be changed.

CONCLUSION

There is no reasonable expectation that active shooter events are going to miraculously cease. It behooves all of us to familiarize ourselves with recommended response protocols and identify which options we feel capable of. 

Depending on your reality for potential response, take the appropriate steps to prepare your workplace. As another old saying goes: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

Preparation is easy and takes little time. Do it now. Make the choices that will save lives – including your own.