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"On October 5, 2022, a respected professor and community leader, Dr. Thomas Meixner, was shot and killed in the John W. Harshbarger (“Harshbarger”) building by the alleged suspect (“the Subject”), a former University of Arizona graduate student. On October 24, 2022, PAX Group, LLC, (“PAX” or “PAX Group”) was retained by the University of Arizona (“University”) and began conducting an independent… (read more)

RAND researchers created this tool to advance efforts to prevent and reduce intentional, interpersonal firearm violence and public mass attacks in the United States. The goal of this tool is to provide practical strategies and guidance on deterring, mitigating, and responding to mass attacks for a variety of audiences, including public safety experts, practitioners, policymakers, community groups… (read more)

Recognized as CSHEMA's 2023 Marketing Single Media Award for a Small School, this video outlines the "Avoid, Deny, Defend" survival method, a national model that SMU has adopted to educate our campus. The tactics shown in this video are the result of in-depth, after-action lessons learned through partnerships with law enforcement agencies, individuals and institutions who have been involved in… (read more)

SchoolShooters.info is a compendium of documents relating to a wide range of active shooter incidents in educational settings. The purpose of this site is to help prevent school shootings and to provide insight into the perpetrators of large-scale school violence. The information and materials on this site are relevant for professionals in education, mental health, and law enforcement, as well as… (read more)

This report analyzes mass shootings for a 15-year period (1999-2013). CRS analysis of the FBI Supplementary Homicide Reports dataset and other research indicates that offenders committed at least 317 mass shootings, murdered 1,554 victims, and non-fatally wounded another 441 victims entirely with firearms during that 15-year period. The prevalence of mass shooting incidents and victim counts… (read more)

Between January and December 2017, 28 incidents of mass attacks, during which three or more persons were harmed, were carried out in public places within the United States. These acts violated the safety of the places we work, learn, shop, relax, and otherwise conduct our day-to-day lives. The resulting loss of 147 lives and injury to nearly 700 others had a devastating impact on our nation as a… (read more)

The threat of gun violence in schools necessitates attention across the spectrum of emergency management mission areas: prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery. While mitigation, response, and recovery represent critical aspects of emergency management, this guide focuses on considerations for schools specifically in the areas of prevention and protection. This resource… (read more)

The goal of this document is to provide guidance and share best practices to local officials on planning, training, equipping (including personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as the stages of response and recovery. It includes recommendations on all the phases of response. Community involvement is integral in planning, mitigation, response, and recovery, but this document is specifically… (read more)

When incidents of school violence occur, they leave a profound and lasting impact on the school, the community, and our nation as a whole. Ensuring safe environments for elementary and secondary school students, educators, administrators, and others is essential. This operational guide was developed to provide fundamental direction on how to prevent incidents of targeted school violence, that is… (read more)

This article describes the features and testing of the THOR Broadcasting System, a long-range directed acoustic device that can provide effective warning and instructional messages across a campus in emergencies.

Following the tragic shooting at Umpqua Community College in 2015, the Oregon Campus Safety Work Group (OCSWG) was formed to identify resource needs and potential state policies that enable a coordinated strategy across the higher education system for public and private institutions; as well as analyze promising practices and protocols that can be shared across all post-secondary education… (read more)

Ensuring the continuous operation of government and the safety of the personnel and citizens who enter government facilities on a daily basis is an essential part of securing our homeland. To enhance prevention efforts in this area, the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) studied 43 attacks targeting federal government facilities and officials that occurred between 2001… (read more)

The foundation of any Active Shooter/Hostile Event (ASHE) program is a comprehensive plan. A comprehensive ASHE plan provides a framework for developing and implementing specific procedures including training and exercising your capability, equipping your response elements, proactive engagement of your stakeholders, and evaluating your capabilities. A collaborative planning process involving… (read more)

Given the increasing number and consistency of active shooter incidents, thousands of first responders, including police/law enforcement, campus public safety officials, and security officers, have undertaken active shooter or active threat trainings. These trainings evolve as best practices are updated to reflect new information that emerges from incidents. Anecdotal evidence suggests that… (read more)

This publication is the product of an ongoing collaboration between the Secret Service and the Department of Education. The focus is on the use of the threat assessment process pioneered by the Secret Service as one component of the Department of Education's efforts to help schools across the nation reduce school violence and create safe climates. This guide sets forth a process for identifying,… (read more)

An extensive examination of 37 incidents of targeted school violence that occurred in the United States from December, 1974 through May, 2000.

This study aimed to further the prevention of targeted school-based attacks by exploring how students with prior knowledge of attacks made decisions regarding what steps, if any, to take after learning the information. The study also sought to identify what might be done to encourage more students to share information they learn about potential targeted school-based violence with one or more… (read more)

Recent improvised explosive device (IED) and active shooter incidents reveal that some traditional practices of first responders need to be realigned and enhanced to improve survivability of victims and the safety of first responders caring for them. This Federal, multi-disciplinary first responder guidance translates evidence-based response strategies from the U.S. military's vast experience in… (read more)

This resource document provides several publications and web resources on a variety of security topics to include targeted attacks, managing threatening situations, creating safe school climates, security assessments, and the Roundtable presentation.

This project sought to determine the optimized message contents of imminent threat wireless emergency alert (WEA) messages delivered over mobile communication devices. This report presents findings for the first WEA messages disseminated about imminent threats (i.e., first alert messages) from two research phases with U.S. adults: (1) eight experiments, seven focus groups and 50 think-out-loud… (read more)

Bomb threats or suspicious items should always be taken seriously. How quickly and safely you react to a bomb threat could save lives, including your own. What should you do? The guidance and resources on this webpage outline in-depth procedures for either bomb threats or suspicious items and will help you prepare and react appropriately during these events. Resources include a DHS bomb threat… (read more)

The American public has expressed increasing alarm over incidents of multiple casualty violence. While the law enforcement community has progressed in advancing training in the tactical response to incidents, there are significant gaps in strategies aimed at preventing multiple casualty violence. To address this need, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Law Enforcement Training… (read more)

While the law enforcement community has progressed in advancing training in the tactical response to incidents, there are significant gaps in strategies aimed at preventing multiple casualty violence. To address this need, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers has collaborated with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing… (read more)

On December 2, 2015, at 10:59 AM, the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, came under attack. Many of the lessons learned during the response to the attack tie into the principles of community policing and continue to build on the body of knowledge that exists to assist law enforcement agencies in their mission to protect and strengthen relationships with their community. This… (read more)

This report provides a brief overview of trends in vehicle ramming incidents. It also includes results from the 2016 Intercollegiate Athletics Safety and Security Best Practices Compliance Survey. The results of the survey provide information on the implementation rates (%) of perimeter protections. Specifically, this paper investigates the rise in vehicular-ramming attacks in large public… (read more)

This report examined whether any differences exist between lone actor terrorists and mass murderers. Using a series of bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses, researchers compared demographic, psychological and offense-related behavioral variables across and between 71 lone actor terrorists and 115 solo mass murderers. The fundamental distinction between the two groups, motivation,… (read more)

This VALOR webinar was held on August 16, 2016. Participants learned about active shooter events and considerations that law enforcement officers should be aware of when responding to an active shooter event. Leading experts from the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Program discussed: statistics of active shooter events; risks associated with response to active shooter… (read more)

This document is focused on identifying strategies that contribute to preventing, not predicting, incidents of targeted violence that result in mass casualty events. It is the result of a multi-agency collaborative conference held at Quantico, Virginia, in August of 2013. Seven promising avenues for prevention that emerged from this effort: 1) Prepare preparation is essential - a mass… (read more)

This guide is the culmination of nearly two years of work following a 2015 gathering of multidisciplinary experts and the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. The purpose of this gathering was to discuss solutions to reduce attacks such as mass shootings and other forms of targeted violence including stalking, terrorism, or ambush attacks on law enforcement. This publication represents the results of… (read more)

This article offers threat assessment and management strategies to address the increased demands faced by campus law enforcement, mental health, and administration officials who assess and manage threats, perhaps several simultaneously.

In this webinar you will learn about information regarding strategies for threat assessment and management in schools and higher education. Learning objectives include: present an overview of the threat assessment and management process; discuss policies and procedures related to the investigation of threats, including a review of the differences between K-12 and higher education settings and;… (read more)