Whether a deranged teenager or a committed terrorist, the active shooter phenomenon is here and will continue to be a danger everywhere. Whilst Wyoming has not suffered many active shooter incidents in recent times, it would be very dangerous to assume it will not. The only thing a police officer hears more than "…it will never happen to me…" is "…I never thought it would happen to me…" So, the prudent individuals will recognize it can happen and take steps to better prepare themselves and their families. This series of three articles will cover:

• Recognizing an active shooter situation?
• Preparing yourself and your family for the possibility and what to do if it you're caught in one.
• The aftermath.

Recognizing An Active Shooter Situation

The multitude of incidents from Columbine to the Las Vegas massacre have all shown a lack of understanding and recognition of what is happening on the part of the victims. In Columbine students tried to hide under school desks and were mocked before being cold bloodily shot to death. In Las Vegas, many victims huddled together thinking this would protect them from the high velocity bullets, but it only provided a bigger target for the shooter. Other times, we have mistakenly believed law enforcement or teachers will protect against the onslaught. Again, in Columbine, the first responding law enforcement officers, following the protocol of the time, waited for the SWAT team to arrive while victims were being shot and in Parkland, Florida the school resource officer hid while students were being killed.

What is an active shooter? According to the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training program endorsed by the US Government through the Department of Justice, the definition of an active shooter is a person actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area. This definition is indicative of a lack of depth in the training program, true for most US Government training programs, as it ignores some basic realities and does not go nearly far enough. First, there is often more than one shooter and this is important. Second, it does not necessarily happen in a confined space, unless you consider a high school a confined space; it can, but should not be defined as such. We will not waste time on the definition, it will be obvious when it happens given some basic knowledge. We will, however, describe some common traits and give examples of other factors which go to make up an active shooter incident.

Active shooters come in all shapes and sizes, that is to say, there is no single type of individual, motive or modus operandi. There are some important common denominators to the modern active shooter which, if acted upon, can help save lives.

• There can be multiple indicators of an emerging danger with an individual or individuals such as written or verbal intent to kill, abnormal and/or new interest in guns or death and expressed hatred for a group.
• The perpetrator is known to possess or have access to firearms.
• There is normally a 'precipitating' event such as a fight or argument, expulsion from an establishment or perceived injustice which is the culminating last straw in the shooters mind.
• When confronted by armed response, they will often take their own lives.

There have been many, too many, examples where an active shooter tragedy could have been prevented if teachers, fellow students, work colleagues or citizens had come forward and passed on information or suspicions to law enforcement. Recognizing an active shooter also includes identifying those indicators and alerting law enforcement before anything occurs. The slogan "If you see something, say something" applies perfectly in these cases.

Although we are used to seeing the lone wolf type active shooter incident, we must not ignore the increasing reality of multiple shooter attacks. In the case of terrorism especially, attacks are planned involving multiple, heavily armed individuals who are radically committed to causing as much death and destruction as possible. These attacks, such as the San Bernadino incident, also include the use of grenades and improvised explosive devices all designed to inflict a mass of casualties. The Mumbai, India and Brussels incidents were highly organized attacks carried out by multiple, trained and committed teams of terrorists who ranged city-wide. In many terrorist active shooter attacks, the terrorists will use fire as a weapon, setting buildings ablaze to increase the carnage and cause maximum panic.

The weapons used by active shooters vary from high powered semi-automatic rifles to semi-automatic handguns and have included shotguns and bolt action hunting rifles. Almost all the weapons used have the capability to be reloaded quickly using high-capacity magazines. This means the number of casualties an active shooter can inflict is great and the duration of the actual rampage can last an extended period of time. Modern firearms cause serious wounds; a bullet to the arm or leg, unlike in the movies, can result in the loss of that arm or leg. Losing too much blood is fatal even if the casualty gets to hospital alive and conscious and receives a transfusion. Bullets will penetrate almost all doors and internal walls found in buildings today with enough power to kill on the other side. Knowing these facts may prevent a potential victim from making a fatal mistake, like hiding behind a locked door, and getting shot because the shooter fires through the door.

Assuming we have accepted the possibility, how do we recognize it is happening right now? Some schools and businesses have signals or alarms to alert people to an active shooter situation but most do not. Cell phone alerts and news notifications apps also provide critical confirmation of an active shooter situation, mostly too late for those in the immediate danger zone! For most people caught up in an active shooter incident, the first indication is often the sound of gunshots, which surprises and can take precious seconds or minutes before many people begin reacting. Too many times, people assume the gunshots are firecrackers or go into denial making excuses not wanting to be embarrassed. Other times, the first indication is people running away in a panic or coming across wounded or dead and this in of itself can be a dangerous aspect to the situation as group think or the natural inclination to help an injured person can get you killed. More about this in the later article addressing what to do when it is happening.

A good rule to follow in recognizing an active shooter is at work is the 'one plus one equals one' rule. One indicator, such as the sound of what could be gunshots plus a second indicator, such as people running equals one active shooter, act accordingly. It is vital to impress not to wait for two indicators if one is enough, such as someone telling you "…there is an active shooter in the library…", this single indicator is enough to take action. Upon hearing what sounds like gunshots, assume someone is shooting a gun and that an active shooter incident is happening.

In summary, accept it can happen anywhere, anytime and to you. Know what common denominators are found in an active shooter and, if you think you have identified indications of a potential mass murderer, say something. Most importantly, recognize when it is happening and do not dismiss the indicators or make excuses so as not to appear 'silly'. The next article will address how to prepare and what to do in the event of an active shooter.