School Safety in the News 3-19-13

Howard task force issues school safety report; work to start immediately
Baltimore Sun (blog)

Week Ahead: TJ Lane Sentencing, School Safety Taxes and More
StateImpact Ohio

House takes up bill that provides $10M for school safety improvements
Bismarck Tribune

House approves school safety bill by wide margin
Thecollinsvillenews

Rondout Valley to hold school safety meeting tonight
Kingston Daily Freeman

Wyo officials look for ways to improve school safety
Casper Star-Tribune Online

School safety: Law enforcement training this week to combat 'active shooter'
al.com (blog)

Blaine County School District Forms Safety Task Force
KMVT

Parents, school staff concerend over campus safety during fugitive search
KHOU

St. Mary's County Schools Restrict Hugging, Homemade Treats for Safety
NBC4 Washington

School Threat Compilation 1

Since the Sandy Hook Elementary attack on 12/14/12, the media has become awash in related news stories.  Rather than make individual posts, I've created a compilation.

Hillsborough deputies 'overwhelmed' with vague school violence threats - Northwest News and Tribune

SCHOOL VIOLENCE: Teen jailed for on-line gun threat : Crime Blotter Press-Enterprise (blog)

Pinellas schools look into rumors of violence related to Mayan calendar - Tampabay.com

Jeffersonville High School student arrested over violence rumor - The Courier-Journal

Ohio boy, 11, threatened school shooting, police say - The Columbus Dispatch

Shooting rumor boosts police presence at DeLand High - Orlando Sentinel

Jeff. High School student charged after alleged school violence threat - WHAS 11

Web comments lead to arrest of Northern California man - SJ Mercury News

Police arrest students in Indiana school threats - SFGate

Hillsborough deputies 'overwhelmed' with school violence threats - Tampa Bay Online

Safe Havens, International

Student Shot on 1st Day of School near Baltimore

Baltimore, MD
A high school student has been injured in a shooting on the first day of classes at a Baltimore County high school.

County police say the Perry Hall High School student was flown to a hospital after being shot Monday morning.

Police did not provide any additional details, but Lt. Robert McCullough says there is no active shooter at the school.

The school was being evacuated. Police say students are being escorted to the nearby Perry Hall Shopping Center and parents can meet them there.

A New Topical Paper Being Released

New Topical Paper - Flight, Fight or Lockdown - Teaching Students and Staff to Attack Active Shooters could Result in Decreased Casualties or Needless Deaths

There has been considerable interest in teaching students and staff to attack active shooters as a last resort in recent years.  In December of 2011, Steve Satterly and I began research on a white paper designed to explore that benefits and the potential dangers of training school employees and students to attack an active shooter as a last resort option.   This approach has been highly controversial with many veteran law enforcement officers and educators having opposing views on the practicality of this approach.

There are now a number of training videos depicting various tactics to attack a gunman with several of them being available for public viewing on the Internet.  Large numbers of people are now viewing these videos and these concepts have now been taught to children as young as kindergarten (in rare instances).

Proponents of the concept assert correctly that there have been some instances where victims have been killed and wounded when they remained relatively passive when they were confronted by an active shooter.  They propose that by teaching people these concepts, a group of individuals can overpower a gunman as has already occurred as far back as the late 1990’s.  They feel that by training groups of staff and students on this approach, another option will be available to students and staff who find themselves confronted by an active shooter in a classroom, cafeteria, auditorium or other setting.

Those who have expressed concern about this approach point out that some of the concepts being taught might be appropriate for one situation but could result in needless mass casualty losses in another type of situation.  For example, one recent training video instructs viewers that they should always flee the building if they hear gunfire and have the opportunity to do so.  As victims have already been killed when attempting to do this in past events, this concern may have some validity.  In addition, blanket recommendations of this type could prove deadly if numerous people attempt to flee the building at the same time.  For example, if there are several hundred people on each floor of a building and a shooting occurs on the sixth floor, several hundred people could jam stairwells fleeing floors five, six and seven creating a mass of densely packed victims.   Another concern is that people who leave relatively secure lockdown areas may be shot as they attempt to flee instead of simply locking down which may be a better option for their particular situation.  It is important to remember that lockdowns have been successfully preventing serious injury and death in schools for more than forty years.

Steve and I worked tirelessly for more than a year to review numerous campus shooting situations as well as the findings of more than 1,700 school crisis simulations with 500 different school employees from 15 different school districts.  The paper also draws conclusions from seven different multiple victim school shootings as well as many more campus weapons assaults that did not involve active shooters in the United States and Canada.   

The paper is designed to stimulate further dialogue on the topic rather than to condemn the idea that there are situations where victims should fight back when they are trapped by an active shooter.  In addition to providing examples of cases where people have successfully stopped an active shooter incident, the paper raises a number of considerations that the authors feel have been overlooked as attempts to offer new options to help counter the dangers of active shooters.     
 

Mike Dorn

The paper can be downloaded HERE.

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Run! Hide! Fight! A Response to City of Houston's Thoughts on Active Shooters

Michael Dorn emailed me a link to a video made by the City of Houston, with funding from the Department of Homeland Security.  The purpose of the video is to instruct people in the workplace on what to do in an Active Shooter Incident.  They boil it down to three main responses: Run, hide, or fight.

As I watched the video, I was impressed by it's quality, and by the desire of those who made it to protect others.  I therefore applaud their effort, and thank them for the time and energy spent in its making.

That being said, I have a tactical issue with the 'run' part of their instructions.  Eight of my twelve years in the US Army were spent in the Infantry.  One of the things we were taught was that, when ambushed, you charge the ambush.  Thus, if a person barges into my school and begins shooting, my personal choice would be to go to the shooting.  That's not my problem with the video.

My problem is with running when you don't know what the situation is.  Even with my training, it is difficult to determine where a shot came from, and blindly running at the sound of a shot may send you right into the sights of the shooter.  This happened more than once at Columbine.

We need to teach people how not to give into panic, and how to properly react to a shooter.  Assess the situation, make the right call, and know where you're running too.  The seconds spent doing this could mean the difference between life and death.

The same is true with hiding.  It is rare for an Active Shooter to force a locked door.  They are often moving quickly, seeking targets of opportunity.  At Red Lake, MN, the shooter did force his way in, but in many cases, classes were able to get out of a back door.  Hiding places need to have a means of escape.

Another thing I learned in the Infantry was the difference between 'cover' and 'concealment'.  One can hide using concealment, but it won't protect you from gunfire.  If your hiding place offers you cover, concealment, AND an escape route, then you have a good hiding place.

The key is that people should use this video as a starting point for their thoughts on preparing for violence in the workplace.  Spend some time NOW, thinking of what you would do, and those memories will be ready for you IF it ever happens.

Thanks to the City of Houston for making this video.  It's a scary topic, and an important one to discuss.

It's a Sheepdog thing to do.

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School Planning & Magazine July 2012 Article

http://schoolplanning.epubxp.com/i/74643

P. 46

Quick!  Lives are at Stake!

An article I wrote about the critical first few moments of a crisis in school.

Michigan Teen Arrested with Loaded Gun after Threatening Teacher in Text Message

Pontiac, MI
A quick-thinking Michigan mom might have saved a life by getting her son's school locked down after he sent a text message threatening one of his teachers.

The 14-year-old was caught near his Pontiac school Tuesday afternoon -- armed with a loaded .357 handgun -- after his mom reported the text, which read, "I need you to come get me. I'm about to straight up off this teacher dead in his face. He pissed me off. I'm so serious," myFOXdetroit.com reported.

The student had been at trouble at his school -- Great Lakes Academy -- earlier in the day.

Active Shooter Training - Educator Style

On November 10th, the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy conducted a regional training at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center.  Mike Horton of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy put some educators through basic active shooter training.  Day One consisted of classroom training, which I didn't attend. 

I was intrigued enough by the concept of educators going through this training that I asked Dave Woodward, the Program Director of the ISSSA, if I could observe Day Two, the scenario part of the training.  He agreed so there I was, wearing an orange vest and watching fellow educators demonstrate their skills in traveling in a team, and in room entry.

From a military or law enforcement perspective, there were times I cringed.  I watched a shooter stick a gun into a doorway and turn their head as they fired into the room.  I watched a person come out of a room with their hands up, was directed to the rear of the formation, and pulled a gun out of a pocket to shoot the team from the rear.

They were using sim rounds, capsules filled with soap that mark where it hits.  They sting, so the adrenaline was kicked up a notch every time they ran a scenario.  This is stress inoculation, as Dave Grossman explained it in his book On Combat.  When they face a real situation in their schools, these educators will remember this training, and it will help them make proper decisions.

What was important was not the mistakes being made, but the discussions that went on immediately after each scenario.  The LEOs involved shared their experiences and knowledge with the educators, and the educators shared their insights and knowledge with the LEOs.

This is an excellent concept for the ISSSA.  Educators need stress inoculation and a wide variety of experiences to be able to effectively respond to whatever comes their school's way.  Educators should not concentrate solely on active shooter training, but the lessons learned from this traiing will go far beyond what they went through.

Volunteering to go through this training shows Sheepdog traits.  My colleagues are to be commended, as is Dave and Ryan from the ISSSA.  You guys make e proud to be an educator AND a School Safety Officer!

Active Shooter Training with Sheepdogs

You stand before another police officer, your heart is pounding, your mouth is dry, and sweat streams down your face. He tells you that shots have been fired, and that children are in danger. You hear shots ring out in the building as you and your brothers gear up and prepare to go in.

Moments before, you were patrolling in your car, thinking about your son's baseball game that evening. The radio call declaring an active shooter in a school changed your life forever.

The ranking cop issues assignments, and you take up your position as the point man as your team enters the building. The fire alarm has gone off, and the strident klaxon grates on your ears as you lead the team down a hallway. You barely notice the weight of your tactical vest and equipment belt as you hear shots and screams in the distance.

Your heart cries out for you to break out into a run as you hear screams and more shots, but your training keeps you with your team, knowing that only your combined firepower can put an end to this madness.

You turn a corner into a scene from Hell. Bodies are on the floor all the way down the hallway, in numerous positions. Blood smears adorn the walls, as well as bits of things you don't take time to think about, but which will haunt your dreams for the rest of your life. Moans come from some of the bodies, but you have to get to the source of the damage before you can help them. You file the moans away as one more thing to think about later, and you will.

Your team leader calls out doorways and hallways as they come up. He announces a stairwell to the left, and your vision narrows down to that stairwell. The sounds of shots being fired come from upstairs, and things appear to go into slow motion as time slows. You begin to go up the stairs, bringing your pistol up to cover the top of the stairs, and you stumble. It saves your life as a couple of shots hit the wall behind you, passing through where you were just a second ago. You call out, "CONTACT! Top of the stairs!" as you scramble to your your feet. The head above you disappears. You take a right guard position, as another team member steps into your point position, and once again head up the stairs.

As you reach the top of the stairs, you hear gunfire and screams coming from a classroom two doors down. The new point man calls this out, and the heart that you thought could not beat any faster goes into overdrive.

The point man quickly steps past the door to the classroom and takes up position about ten feet down the hall. You step up to the team leader, put your left shoulder into him, and push him past the door as you scan the room through the window. You see the shooter in the back of the room shooting into a body, and you see several bodies on the floor, and quite a few students cowering on the floor, screaming and crying. You reach the other side of the door, and you tell the team leader, "One shooter, far side of the room."

The team leader says, "Criss-cross, GO!"

You make eye contact with the officer across the door. The hinges are on his side, on the outside, so the door will swing to him. He takes a deep breath, reaches for the door handle, and checks to see if it will work. It does, so he pulls the door open.

As soon as it is open far enough, you shoulder your way in, entering diagonally through the door. As soon as you step in, you target the shooter, who is nothing but a dark shape in the back of the room. His gun was pointed down, but now starts to swing around towards you. Your gun bucks in your hand, and he staggers. The officer who opened the door had come in diagonally behind you and is now on your left. He fires as well, and in the space of a couple of seconds the shooter is shot four times out of six shots.

The echoes of the shots fade, to be replaced by sobbing and the heavy breathing of you and the other officer. You shuffle over to the shooter's body, keeping your gun trained on him. The other officer trains his gun around the room, making sure no one else is a threat. You kick the gun away from the shooter, and check his pulse, although one of the rounds took him in the face, and it doesn't look like much was left. When you can feel no pulse, you yell out, "Suspect is dead!" The other officer yells out, "Room is clear! MEDICAL!"

For three days, I have had the honor of training with police officers from several jurisdictions who were in the Active Shooter Instructors course. I am a school administrator, so I am not taking the course, but by learning what the police are doing, I can better prepare my students and staff for the unlikely event an active shooter is in my school.

I am impressed with the professionalism of the officers in the training. In between the scenarios they run, they joke around with each other almost like teenage boys. There is a sense of camaraderie between them that I haven't seen since leaving the Army in 1993. After each scenario, they gather together and go over what went right and wrong. They are brutally honest with each other, knowing that they have to be, to be prepared to handle whatever evil they may be called to take care of. In the scenarios, I play one of the "bad guys". My Infantry training helps me to be as difficult a foe as possible, as I know that's what they want, and need.  Sometimes I play a hostage, or a victim.  Sometimes I am a lone bad guy, sometimes I'm one of two.




They don't play a lot of "what if" games.  They train to historical realities, and probabilities.  Resources are scarce, so they don't waste them on scenarios highly unlikely to happen.  The use of simunitions adds an element of reality by raising the stress levels.  When shot with one, they sting.  You also have the psychological impact of seeing someone trying to hurt you, and the adrenalin kicks in.  This affects your aim.  In one scenario, 12 shots were fired by the good guys, with two hitting their target.  Police officers need to psychologically inoculate themselves to this, and the physical stress of these types of situations.  We were in an air-conditioned school, and yet officers were sweating after each scenario.

You want to know what lessons were learned in Columbine; Bailey, Colorado; Nickle Mines, Pennsylvania; and Virgina Tech? Attend a training session like this and see how the police learn from these events and prepare for the bad guys, who also learn from these events.

The "thin blue line" may be thin, but it is a strong one.   I, for one, am glad they do what they do. I am also glad for the men and women who train them. Thanks to all the men and women of law enforcement, for training like this, and thinking the unthinkable.