Active Shooter Training In Educational Settings

There are many people who believe that the only way an active shooter incident can be ended or prevented is by another person with a gun. However, certain school and college incidents (along with others in different locations) have shown that this isn’t necessarily the case. In fact, simply listening to your intuition, can be the difference between surviving and not – in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, a 5-year old student, having recognized that the shooting had stopped (the gunman was reloading), and that this signaled an escape opportunity, lead 5 of his classmates to safety. He didn’t know why the shooting had stopped, but he recognized that it signaled an opportunity. It didn’t take another gunman to save him, just an ability to take charge and a trust in his instincts. In the Virginia Tech Massacre of 2007, students in a classroom realized that if they barricaded their room, and made it difficult for the shooter (Seung-Hui Cho) to enter, then he’d probably leave to look for more available targets – Active Shooters want the highest body count, and can be competitive about this, trying to out-do previous killers.

Our training formalizes many of the strategies and tactics that have been proven to work in actual incidents e.g. we teach evacuation (Sandy Hook) and barricading (Virginia Tech) etc. We also teach people how and when to counter and attack – there have been several occasions in which students have tackled the shooter as he reloaded, as well as occasions when students have recognized this as an opportunity to evacuate. Having a range of strategies to draw on, and knowing when and how to implement them, allows individuals to increase their survival chances during school and college shooting incidents. We can provide training on all aspects of active shooter tactical survival, from simple evacuation and barricading tactics, to physically countering a shooter, whether as an individual or part of a group – we can also show ways in which the success rate of physically countering a gunman can be increased.

All of our Active Shooter training for schools and colleges is presented in a non-sensational manner and is designed to inform and empower, rather than intimidate and cause fear/panic. All of our training packages/offerings are tailored to meet you and your institution’s needs, and are delivered in an age-appropriate manner. If you are interested in any aspect of the training we offer, please contact us by clicking here