We here at KNPR's State of Nevada have been putting off doing this story.
It first occurred to us when Allison Parker and Adam Wardwere murdered on camera when they were doing a story for the morning news in Virginia in August.
Then, a little more than a month later, a student opened fire in his classroom at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. He was shooting for 10 minutes. He killed nine people.
And we thought, “Should we do something on what to do in an active- shooter situation? Would that help our listeners feel a little more in control?”
The answer was no, because while mass shootings get a lot of press, they really are statistically rare.
Then a couple of weeks ago, a man described as a “fundamentalist loner” forced his way into a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs and killed three people – all of them outside the clinic.
And while we were still reeling from that, a husband and wife who were described by friends and colleagues in pretty much the same way, walked into a building San Bernardino that helps people with disabilities, and started shooting at people at a holiday party. The husband had been at that party earlier in the morning. His jacket was still hanging on his chair.
Fourteen people died. And our production team decided that we needed to do the story that was previously unthinkable – What should YOU do if you find yourself in an active shooter situation?
Dr. Pete Blair, an associate professor of criminal justice at Texas State University and director of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center (ALERRT), told KNPR's State of Nevada that researchers looking at mass shooting incidents define them as: "A situation where somebody went to the location with the intent to commit mass murder."
That can mean that several people were shot or no one was hurt, but the intention to kill a lot of people was there. By that definition, Blair said there are about 18 such crimes in the United States every year, which is an uptick from the early 2000s.
Blair does not include domestic violence crimes, where a person kills several members of his family, or times where one crime like a robbery turns into several people being shot.
According to Blair, although these types of crimes grab our attention, they are rare and the chance of someone being killed are very small.
"I wouldn't live my life in daily fear that this is going to happen to you, but I do think it is worth being a little bit alert, paying attention to your surroundings," Blair said. "If you feel that things start to go wrong or are wrong, you should take action to improve your situation."
Sgt. Braden Schrag with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said so far Southern Nevada has been fortunate to avoid these types of mass shootings.
But he does believe people should think out what they would do in an active shooter situation so they won't be paralyzed by fear.
"For most people, a trauma like that is very overwhelming and can paralyze our thought process," Schrag said, "But it's always important that we do some basic preparation and rehearsals."
He said using everyday activities to guide you, like remembering how you would get out of your office quickly because you're late for an appointment, can help make mentally preparing for the unthinkable easier to do.
Blair agreed. He said people should do what he called "scripting," which is thinking out scenarios and rehearsing them in your mind.
If you are caught in an active shooter situation, Blair said there are three basic steps: Avoid, Deny and Defend.
'Avoid' means to avoid the attacker and get out of the location as quickly and as safely as you can.
'Deny' means to deny an attacker access to your location by baring the door or locking yourself in a closet.
'Defend' means trying to stop the shooter anyway you can like taking the gun from his hands, using a blunt object to subdue him, or if you have your weapon, using it to stop him.
However, Blair warns that 'defend' should be a person's last resort and using a gun, while potentially effective, could end up putting a good person in danger.
"If you pull a firearm and then go looking because you hear gunfire in your building, to responding police officers or other concealed weapons holders you may look like the bad guy," he said.
Schrag said in traumatic situations people should focus on survival.
"The goal is your survivability," he said. "It's you going home at the end of the day and having that mind set in that particular incident that you are going to live that you are going to make it through and there is no other option than that choice
Dr. Pete Blair, associate professor of criminal justice at Texas State University and director of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center (ALERRT); Sargent Braden Schrag, of the Community Policing Division of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
