Active Shooter 360 attended a March 2019 presentation on the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting conducted by Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. The session was sobering, disturbing, and insightful. Sheriff Gualtieri reminded us, “There were lots of heroes that day; many things were done right.”
Let’s start with the key point: the “system” failed beginning years earlier up to minutes before the shooter began firing. The tragic outcome was 17 people killed, 17 people injured, and two survivor suicides in a single week a year later.
What went wrong?
The shooter (we won’t dignify him with a name) had a very troubled childhood, with a history of acting-out and killing animals.
A family member reported to a federal law enforcement agency that the shooter was, “Columbine in the making.” No action taken.
A teacher reported the shooter to school officials because he carved the word “Kill” on his desk along with swastikas. No action taken.
The shooter was finally dismissed from the school. Yet, on February 14, 2018, several school officials saw the shooter enter the school with a rifle bag, but did not confront him or call a Code Red. One security official saw the shooter enter through a fence gate and admitted thinking, “There’s that crazy kid with a rifle.” He did not call a Code Red.
A year after the shooting, the Broward County School Board formally defined a Code Red and clarified who has the authority to call a Code Red.
Here’s the message:
The lessons learned from the MSD shooting apply beyond schools to include healthcare, government, religious institutions, and the business/commerce sectors. Get on the prevention and intervention side (Left of Bang). Key actions that apply across the workplace spectrum are:
Identify the threat, communicate the threat, and act on the threat.
Work with HR and develop a Behavioral Assessment Team.
Focus on insiders; fences and doors don’t protect you from inside threats.
Practice Imminent Harm Mitigation.
Key Takeaway
Take action months or years before a problem becomes a violence tragedy. The slogan “If you see something, say something,” is useless if nobody does something.”
What are your thoughts?
