Active Shooter Situations

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1 Active Shooter Situations Background: Active shooting incidents have gained increased prominence in the news over the past several years. It s important to understand that definitions of active shootings vary according to source. News media and activist groups sometimes define active shooting incidents differently than the federal government, which defines an active shooting situation as follows: An individual [or individuals] actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined or populated area. Implicit in this definition is that the subject s criminal actions involve the use of firearms. Part of the challenge in managing communications related to active shooting cases is that these incidents have become intensely politicized, remaining a major news story for days, even weeks, longer than other incidents. Approximately 45 percent of all incidents occurred at businesses. Of those, roughly 25 percent involved current or former employees. Of cases occurring at business locations, 68 percent of the shooters had no work history with the business, though roughly one quarter of those had a relationship of some sort with an employee. Active shooters only rarely target facilities presumed to offer high levels of security (e.g., the Fort Hood shootings). Instead, they tend to target soft targets such as schools (including colleges), businesses and other areas where the public and/or employees are generally free to come and go. Creating an Active Shooter Plan While it is an individual resort decision whether to create an active shooter plan, we d note that given the extraordinary level of media attention given to active shooting scenarios and the politicallycharged climate that surrounds them the public is likely to be unforgiving if an active-shooter situation occurs at a resort that hasn t made some provision for such an event in its emergency management plans. NSAA has produced guidelines that may help member resorts develop their own active shooter management plan. Note that these NSAA documents are guidelines, not plans, and that the creation of a formal plan is a task that will be resort-specific. Such planning MUST involve your local law enforcement agency and, depending upon your resort s location, other regional, state and federal agencies such as the county sheriff, state police, FBI, FEMA or Homeland Security may also be involved. It is strongly recommended that your plans be reviewed annually. Law Enforcement and the National Incident Management System We strongly encourage you to become familiar with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and its Incident Command System (ICS). NIMS and ICS provide an emergency management structure utilized by all federal, state, regional and local first response agencies, plus hospitals, public institutions and other entities. You can find more information at FEMA.GOV and by working with your local law enforcement or other first response agencies.

2 ICS protocols identify key responsibilities in management of emergencies. One of these responsibilities is that of Incident Command. In an active shooter situation, the Incident Command position is first held by the senior-most law enforcement officer on the scene, may then be transferred to a more senior officer from that agency, and then, as warranted by situation or jurisdiction, to the sheriff s office, state police, state prosecutor or even the FBI. In extremely complex situations involving multiple agencies, a Joint Incident Command system involving leadership of numerous agencies may be established. Under ICS, the Incident Commander is empowered to assume complete control of your resort and may order nearly any action he or she deems necessary to resolve the situation. This includes, but is not limited to, ordering the cessation of all operations and complete evacuation of the premises for an indeterminate amount of time. The global responsibility for public information related to an active shooter incident will by default be the assigned Public Information Officer (PIO) from the government agency responsible for Incident Command. Until the Incident Commander returns control of the resort to management, this means that resort communications personnel are effectively subservient to, and in a support role for, the PIO. The priorities of law enforcement personnel during an active shooter situation are 1) containing, then 2) removing the active threat (including checking for and securing explosive devices). Their next priorities include treatment and evacuation of victims and survivors who remain at the scene, and determining whether all persons involved in plotting or executing the attack(s) are accounted for. Public communications, except as necessary to serve those priorities, is of significantly lower concern. Depending upon circumstances, it may even be viewed as counterproductive. This could potentially place resort communications personnel in a difficult position. Resorts must balance their own needs in public communication with the needs and legal authority of law enforcement personnel, who generally maintain strict control over public information while a major situation is still developing. Ideally, resort communications personnel should establish and maintain relationships with designated first response agency PIOs as a routine part of emergency preparedness. Knowing in advance who to contact, and establishing an open line with the PIO, will allow you to more easily obtain guidance on what law enforcement will permit you to say while the situation is still fluid. They re unlikely to order complete embargoes, but the prior relationship may allow you to work in concert with them and obtain approval prior to release of any information. News and Social Media during Active Shooting Incidents Because active shooter cases are spectacular, the news media is extremely aggressive in reporting them. Two primary factors tend to increase the level of press scrutiny ease of access and the number of victims. Resorts located miles from major media hubs may be somewhat insulated from a full-on press onslaught at least in the early stages. However, resorts located within reasonable proximity (and helicopter flight time) of major markets are highly vulnerable first to news helicopters and then to crews arriving by road. In the early stages of an active shooter incident, there s typically a vacuum of official information. As a result of the hyper-competitive media environment, unverified assertions and erroneous statements based upon hearsay are often included in news stories.

3 This can be especially problematic on cable news channels. National and regional channels often retain expert contributors who can be called in on short notice. Such experts are called upon to offer analysis of the situation. But as these guests generally don t know more about the situation than the news anchors or public, at least in the early stages, their commentary can be largely speculative. In addition, news outlets will also attempt to fill space and time by using man on street interviews with bystanders (in-person and sometimes via online tools or cell phone). They may also attempt to find employees to interview. It is suggested that employees direct all requests for interviews or statements to your resort communication officer. News of active shooting incidents propagates astonishingly fast on social media, and news producers generally scour social media for photos and videos obtained by witnesses and bystanders. These may be broadcast within moments of posting. Although many social media posts simply contain a link to stories or streams from legacy media outlets, a significant number include commentary. It is recommended that your social media person or team scan for posts and alert your communications officer immediately with anything requiring immediate attention. Guidelines for Resort Communications In The Event of an Active Shooter Situation Advance Preparation: It is recommended that your resort work with relevant law enforcement and other relevant agencies to create an Emergency Operations Plan, including an active shooter scenario. Develop relationships with PIOs as a part of this planning process. It is recommended that every resort have a comprehensive Emergency Communications Plan sufficiently flexible to provide guidance, resources and tools facilitating management of any type of emergency situation, including active shooters. As part of the above planning, resorts should identify primary and secondary areas that may be used for the following: o Command post o Staging of response personnel (police, fire, rescue, etc.) o Managing first aid/first response o Guest evacuation and safety o Media Center(s) Early Stages of an Incident: Remember that whatever actions you can take to minimize the loss of life are more important than public communications, unless those communications facilitate minimizing that loss. Defer all inquiries regarding specifics of the incident to the appropriate law enforcement PIO(s). You will most likely NOT have time to respond to media inquiries individually. Use your time to plan for larger media response rather than attempting to assist individual reporters. When possible, notify media outlets of the location of the Media Center. If possible, notify frontline personnel on access roads and in parking areas to direct arriving media to that location. Initial Statement: It s appropriate and recommended to create an initial statement. Transmit this via to key media outlets, post it to your website, and transmit it via your social media streams. Such a

4 statement should include only the top-most verifiable information such as We ve received unconfirmed reports of a gunman on property and shots fired. We have no information about injuries at this time. Law enforcement is on premises and is managing the situation. We ll update this information when we know more. Subsequent Statements, Including Those Made at Press Conferences It is recommended your resort avoid ANY statement or comment, in any form or outlet, related to the specifics of the incident including but not limited to statements about the shooter(s) and/or his/her behavior, the weapon(s) involved, the number or type of injuries, possible motives, whether the suspect has been neutralized, etc. ANY discussion of the functional aspects of a case should be deferred to law enforcement. Notwithstanding the above, it s okay to identify broadly the location of where the incident occurred, such as on the ground floor of the Snowflake Lodge, which is on the west side of the resort. Do not accept requests for further detail; again, this is the province of law enforcement. Remember to include expressions of concern and compassion for victims and their loved ones in all statements and releases. Emphasize your gratitude to law enforcement, and make it clear that your entire resort team is completely cooperating with their work. To the extent possible, it s a good idea for your legal counsel to sign off on what you plan to say before you say it. If this is not possible, it is best to only focus on the above narrow aspects of the messages you deliver. Ensure that your spokesperson(s) enter into press conferences fully prepared, with a brief opening statement, an understanding of what s likely to be asked, and appropriate answers to those questions. Expect questions centering on what you do to protect guests from this type of event. Assuming that you have an operational plan that incorporates an active shooter scenario, it s recommended that you mention this. It s also okay to cite one or two of the more benign aspects of that plan, but do NOT offer any detail of what you do and how you do it. This is due to the fact that active shooter tactics evolve over time, and you don t want to reveal any information that might be useful to another active shooter in the future. You may also expect a media reaction that your active shooter plan didn t work as you intended. Without being defensive, acknowledge the truth of this, and gently point out that public spaces such as ski areas can t be secured the way other facilities can. It s acceptable to follow this up with a statement to the effect of After we have a complete understanding of what happened here, we ll certainly examine our protocols in order to see if there s something we should do differently in the future. Press conferences can be frightening events. Even so, it s generally best to manage an event of this magnitude by using these mass press communications instead of fielding individual reporter queries. Press conferences ensure that everyone gets the same information and avoids the appearance of playing favorites. It is also recommended that you record press conferences, either via video and audio, making those available to reporters who contact you at other times, rather than fielding individual queries. Monitor news items carefully. If you notice erroneous information related to specifics you should not discuss, make sure that the law enforcement PIO is aware of them, but do NOT

5 challenge the news outlet or request corrections or write-throughs. If news items seriously misrepresent locations or statements cited by your team in accordance with the above guidelines, it s generally okay to request correction but it s always a good idea to check with the PIO from law enforcement first. Monitor social media carefully. You ll most likely need to engage often but be careful that your comments are limited to the items above. Encourage your employees and followers to avoid speculation. Invite their prayers and good wishes for victims and their families. Be nonconfrontational and respectful; remember, your social followers are your biggest fans and the incident has likely created real fear among them. Make sure they know that you re listening. Monitor discussions of the event elsewhere, to the extent you can, by identifying and tracking hashtags. If you re running paid promotional spots on local radio or television, it s recommended you contact your media buyer and have them pulled until future notice. Running promotional spots in the aftermath of a tragedy will not be received well by the public. Post-Event At some point, the news and social media focus will shift away from your resort. However, news media are likely to revive the story during subsequent active shooting incidents, and journalists working on second day or analytical/trend stories may contact you weeks, even months or years, after. Once things start to return to something that begins to resemble normal, it is recommended that your senior team develops a strategy for the management of on-going requests for information going forward. Your staff may need a wide range of support services after an event of this type. Even staff members who weren t on campus during the event can be deeply impacted. Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) or other professional counseling may help in some cases. Consult with your local emergency response authorities for recommended organizations and individuals trained to assist in this type of situation. It is recommended that you also conduct an After Action Review - a comprehensive de-brief and analysis of the event as soon after the event as you can, and adjust operational and communications plans as necessary. The National Ski Areas Association would like to thank Mountain Creek Resort s Captain Denis Kelleher, Roselle NJ Police Department (Retired), for his assistance with this project.