Understanding a Safe School Environment

As a Director of Safety and Security for a school district with seventeen schools, a major concern is the possibility of an active shooter gaining entrance into one of our facilities. 

As we plan, prepare and practice for any type of emergency situation, it is important to know as much as possible about the type of individual we may be dealing with.  It is also very important to understand, from a statistical standpoint, how often these types of situations are occurring in our nation’s schools. 

In a publication by the Federal Bureau of Investigation entitled, “A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States between 2000 and 2013,” the FBI identified 160 active shooter incidents that occurred in the U.S. between 2000 and 2013. During these incidents, 486 were killed and 557 wounded, resulting in 1,043 casualties.  The shooters were not included in this total. 

On average the United States has had 11.4 incidents annually, although the last seven years and has seen the average rise to 16.4 incidents.  70% of these incidents have occurred in either commerce/business or educational environments.  These active shooter tragedies have happened in 40 of 50 states and the District of Columbia.  School personnel should be aware that 60% of the incidents ended before police arrived.

The majority of the 160 incidents (90) ended on the shooter’s initiative - sometimes when the shooter committed suicide or stopped shooting, and other times when the shooter fled the scene.  In other incidents, it was a combination of actions by citizens and/or law enforcement that ended the shootings.  In 41% of the incidents, citizen engagement or the shooter committing suicide ended the shooting at the scene before law enforcement arrived.   In eleven of the active shooter incidents, unarmed principals, teachers, other school staff and students confronted the shooter to end the threat.

The study’s results indicated that the second most common incident locations were in educational environments and of most concern to schools, these incidents involved some of the highest casualty numbers.

The study did not focus on the motivation of the shooters; the study did identify some shooter characteristics.  In all but 2 of the incidents, the shooters choose to act alone.  Only 6 female shooters were identified.  12 of the 14 shooters in high school shootings were students at the schools, and 5 of the 6 shooters at middle schools were students at the schools.

The study helps to clarify the environment with regard to both the level of risk schools face and the speed with which the active shooter incidents occur.  A majority of the incidents ended on the shooter’s initiative before police arrived.  In 64 incidents where the duration of the incident could be ascertained, 4 ended in 5 minutes or less, with 23 ending in 2 minutes or less.

It is vitally important that school personnel recognize the increased active shooter threat and the swiftness with which active shooter incidents unfold.  The study supports the importance of training and exercise within our school community.  It is important that the training and exercises include not only an understanding of the threats faced but also the risks and options available.