Response to an Active Shooter

Sergeant Jerry Wienckowski

New York State Police
Special Operations Response Team
 Incident
• We have an active
shooter
• Are you as a
supervisor, principal,
superintendent,
manager, teacher,
prepared to react
appropriately?
 Active Shooter
• Initial 911 Call
• Precise as possible
• Description and
location of shooter
• Critical to first
responders
 Cavalry
• Every police officer in the
area will most likely
respond to an active
shooter.
• As a School, agency,
business – do you have a
designated staging area
for responding law
enforcement agencies?
 Arrival of Law Enforcement
Shooter is still active
• Immediate Action - Rapid Deployment
– Contact Team
– Priority is to stop the deadly behavior
– Not intended to perform rescue and recovery
of victims
– Limit suspect movements
– Prevent escape
– Communicate progress to responders
 Shooter is Active
Contact Team
• Contact Team – initial responding officers
• Moving through area – 360 degree security
• Responding officers trained in same movement
techniques – Diamond or “T” formation
• Equipment
– Weapons (shotgun, patrol rifle, ammunition)
– Communication
– Pry bars
 Shooter Still Active
- Additional arriving officers will and should
move into building and link up with first
officer (s) on scene and proceed to
mitigate threat.
– Time is not on our side.
– The longer it takes to get there, the more lives
will be lost.
 Gunfire has ceased
Where is the shooter??
Now What??
• Lockdown protocols
• Initial responding officer (s) may hold
ground – call / wait for additional assets
• Is the shooter acting alone?
– Plus one theory
– IED’s (Improvised explosive devices)
 Command Post –
Incident Command
• Is there a designated
area for a Command
Post? Secondary
Location?
• Will be critical in a
prolonged incident
– Hostage
– Siege
– Unable to locate
shooter
 Arrival of Specialty Units
• Special Operations / SWAT
– Will be tasked with methodically clearing structure (s)
where active shooter was, or is believed to be.
– Intelligence
• Maps
• Blue prints / Floor Plans
• Security Information (Locks, door opening
direction, keys and access cards)
• Video feed, dedicated school portable radio
• Faculty & student listings, school schedule
• Hazardous materials (types and location)
 Tactical Units
• Clearing methods
• Training – critical for team movement in this environment
• Crawl, walk, run
• Hallways
• Intersections (T, L, 4-way)
• Dedicated immediate action teams
• Large open areas
– Gymnasiums
– Auditoriums
– Cafeterias
– Libraries
 Specialty Equipment
• Equipment and
technology
– Armored vehicles
– Robots
– Cameras
– Mirrors
– Night Vision
– Sniper/observers
 Tactical Medical Considerations
• How many injured civilians do
you have?
• Can they be evacuated?
• Do you have medical equipment
to set up an inner perimeter
CCP?
• Is there coordination between the
Tactical units and EMS units?
• Is there a designated area for
 Patient handoff
 Triage
 Ambulance staging areas
 Additional equipment
 Specialty Units
• Aviation assets
 Is there a designated
landing zone?
 Utilization for
movement of
personnel
 Medical evacuation
 Dedicated liaison
• Bomb Disposal Units
• K-9
• HAZ-MAT
 Evacuation / Debriefing

• Do you have a staging area for people being

evacuated? Secondary?
• People being evacuated or fleeing from school
will need to be interviewed by law enforcement
to gain valuable information for teams entering
threat area.
 Parents

• They will be coming.

• Do you have an area designated for the
parents?
• Do you have people designated to be liaisons
with the parents – someone they are familiar
with? Trust?
 Conclusion - Training
• Local Law Enforcement familiarization
• Specialty Units
• Drills
• Take the initiative