Over the past few weeks, there have been a number of high-profile, active shooter events which have occurred around the country. Two horrific active shooter incidents, one in Aurora, Colorado and the other in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, have caused many in the security industry to review their policies and training associated with the active shooter phenomenon. The MSA Research & Intelligence Analysis Group has compiled this informational bulletin to assist security personnel to be better prepared to address the active shooter threat.
Active shooters remain a viable threat for the simplicity of attack and high impact, achieved in a relatively short amount of time. For example, in just under 15 minutes, James Holmes killed 12 people and left 58 others injured during his shooting spree at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado last month. By comparison, Sueng-Hui Cho killed 33 people, including himself, and wounded 17 more in less than 11 minutes during the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre. More than half of active shooter incidents are terminated in 12 minutes, which corresponds to the average initial police response time.
Within the last five years, there have been at least 14 prominent, high-casualty producing active shooter incidents. Most of these cases have occurred in locations where the shooter has been undeterred and unobstructed from carrying out their attack. The incident locations have often been described as “soft targets” with limited active security measures or armed personnel to provide protection for members of the public. In most instances, shooters have either taken their own lives, been shot by police, or surrendered when forced with a confrontation by law enforcement. According to New York City Police Department (NYPD) statistics, 46% of active shooter incidents are ended by the application of force by police or security, 40% end in the shooter’s suicide, 14% of the time the shooter surrenders or, in less than 1% of cases, the violence ends with the attacker fleeing.
Due to the rapid and dynamic nature of active shooter attacks and their propensity to occur against soft targets and unarmed persons, security personnel must be trained and prepared to address active shooter attacks by recognizing characteristics associated with past attackers, maintaining a situational awareness, and developing countermeasures.