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GUARDIAN SECURITY CONSULTINGPROPOSED ACTIVE SHOOTER EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANApril 21, 2014

OVERVIEW

1. Project Background and DescriptionThe purpose of this plan to give all students, teachers, and support staff of St. Henry Catholic School the best chance to survive an attack by an armed and hostile individual (an active shooter scenario). The school’s security strengths and weaknesses have been assessed, target hardening measures have been proposed, and other items to aid in this plan have been addressed. This is a proposed plan and can be changed and re-written at any time by the school principal.

2. Project ScopeThis plan is designed to attempt to give the best possible outcome (i.e. 100% survivability), in the event of a violent attack on the school. This plan, however, is not designed to account for ALL the possibilities that may make achieving 100% survivability less likely. Such possibilities include, but are NOT limited, the following:

An attack on students, staff, or support staff outside of the building (campus grounds). An attack by highly skilled, motivated, and properly equipped attackers. An attack by an “inside” source (such as a student) that has already transported weapons into the interior. An attack made during a school function that is outside of normal school hours.

3. High-Level RequirementsThe new plan will meet the following criteria:

Designate evacuation routes off of the campus or to designated “safe rooms”. The plan will be designed around the new active shooter doctrine of “Run, Hide, & Fight.” The plan will emphasize the level of importance of each tier of said doctrine. The plan will include a “lock down” procedure for situations where there is no active shooter but a possible

threat.

4. Implementation PlanThe implementation of the emergency response plan should be immediate upon final approval of the plan. All the early-term (Guardian Security Report) security measures that are mentioned in the plan, that are not currently in place, should be installed and ready by next school year (Fall 2014). All the long-term (see Guardian Security Report) security measures that are mentioned in the plan, should be immediately implemented as they soon as they are reviewed, approved, and installed. Following this given timeline will assure the best possible protection for all those that learn, teach, work, and visit, St. Henry School.

5. High-Level Timeline/ScheduleAlmost all early-term security measures mentioned in the Security Report can be implemented and installed by the end of May 2014. Most of these installs can be done by the consultant preparing this plan and report.

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APPROVAL AND AUTHORITY TO PROCEEDWe approve the project as described above, and authorize the team to proceed.

Name Title Date

Approved By Date Approved By Date

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Active Shooter Emergency Response Plan

An active shooter situation is any situation where a hostile person is actively engaged in attacking and severely injuring and/or killing people in a given location. Active shooter events can happen anytime, anywhere, and without any warning. This is why it is necessary for an institution, such as an elementary school, to have a plan in place to help provide the best possible protection for those who teach, learn, and work at the school.

The following emergency response plan (ERP) will be based on the new response to the active shooter. This new response is simply known as “Run, Hide, and Fight.” Before learning the ERP for this location one must first understand what this new doctrine means and why it is necessary.

Explaining Run, Hide, & Fight

An active shooter situation is highly dynamic, stressful, and ever changing. What Run, Hide, & Fight allows those who are targeted by a shooter to do, is to force the shooter to react (which disrupts the shooter’s OODA Loop – more on that below). By forcing the shooter to react, individuals are given precious seconds to get away and escape, hide, and/or prepare to fight. This was not possible with the old method of simply locking a classroom and hoping that the hostile did not breach the room and start killing all those huddled in a corner of the room.

This new response to an active shooter situation is as follows:

RunRun is quite simple. This means get out and away from the location that the shooter is in/near as fast as possible. Although there is a chance you may come within view of the hostile, due to the act of running and being in a close quarter area, the ability for the shooter to respond with lethal force will be minimal. No matter how well an

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individual is trained with a firearm it is ALWAYS harder to make a lethal hit on a fast moving target than it is on a target that is staying in one place. Running removes you from the threat area and gives the hostile less of an ability to engage you.

HideIf you are trapped and running is not a viable option, your next goal should be to find somewhere to hide. Hiding can be as simple as ducking behind furniture to more evasive, such as hiding behind coats, in a locked closet. A hostile will likely be looking for easy targets (i.e. those he can see and get a sight picture on), rather than those that are hiding. This again forces the shooter to react.

FightFight is actively engaging the hostile. This can be done a number of ways but should only be done as a LAST RESORT. A hostile will likely be armed with a firearm and thus it is extremely dangerous to attempt to engage without a firearm yourself. If, however, running failed, and your hide spot has just been discovered you will have to be prepared to fight (and probably get some kind of injury in the process).

It is encouraged that if it comes down to fighting with an armed hostile that you should make every attempt to ambush the hostile and, if possible, attack with a group of people. Again, this will force the hostile to react to your action giving you valuable seconds to cause crippling damage to the hostile. No tactic or object is prohibited in fighting the hostile. The hostile is there to use deadly force and thus any person attempting to fight back is also allowed to use deadly force.

Finally if you have arrived at this last resort option there is something you should remember: due to advances in medicine, emergency care, and the type of the response that the location will be receiving, even if you get shot or stabbed, the chances of you surviving the ordeal are high.

OODA LoopThe OODA Loop concept was developed by military strategist and USAF Colonel John Boyd. The OODA Loop, which stands for Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act was a concept which was made to describe and demonstrate how decisions are made (whether by an individual or an organization – see Fig. A). Understanding this concept is important

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because by disrupting a person’s OODA Loop (or making them react to your action), you are forcing them to factor your action into their decision making.

This benefits any person in an active shooter situation because it will give that person time to accomplish one of the 3 goals (run, hide, or fight). Due to the fact that disrupting a hostile’s OODA Loop is “built-in” to the response, the response alone is designed to save lives. This facility’s ERP includes security measures that will also disrupt a hostile’s OODA Loop, which will also aide in keeping people safe.

Fig. A

Lockdown Procedure

The lockdown plan is only to be used for “outside” and “possible” threats. This means that if there is active violence this is NOT the plan to utilize. This procedure is for any suspicious, threatening, or overtly aggressive behavior that is observed on or near the campus (i.e. building exterior). This procedure is also for any situations where law enforcement has deemed such behavior to be a possibility on or near campus during a law enforcement action.

The lockdown procedure will be implemented immediately, upon confirmation of above, as follows:

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I. Confirmation of ThreatA. A message over the school’s PA system will be made as follows:

1. “There has been a confirmed threat on or near the school. All teachers should follow necessary steps to secure the school. This is not a drill.”

B. Staff in the main office will be tasked with determining that the main entrance is secure. A staff member should be tasked with monitoring the front of the building and reporting any activity that would be deemed threatening or suspicious.C. The 3rd Grade teacher should check AND confirm that the S/E entrance is secure.

1. Confirmation should be given to the office via the PA system.

D. The 2nd Grade teacher should check AND confirm that the N/E entrance is secure.

1. Confirmation should be given to the office via the PA system.

E. If a gym class is in session the gym teacher should immediately return students to their respective class.

1. The gym teacher should then check all entrances in the gym and parish center to determine that they are secure.2. The gym teacher should then secure the folding door in the parish center and report to the main office to confirm all doors are secure.

F. Cafeteria staff should check AND confirm the rear basement door (ground level) is secure.

1. A staff member should be assigned to monitor the area.G. Once the office has received word that all exterior doors are secure and monitors are in place, all teachers should then be instructed to close their classroom doors and await further instruction.

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1. If at any time an active shooter threat is confirmed all lockdown plans should be rescinded and the Active Shooter Emergency Response Plan (ASERP) should be authorized.2. If the threat passes and there is no indication of a continued threat an all clear message should be issued to the school, over the PA, as follows:

a) “An all-clear has been confirmed. All normal class schedules and functions may resume. Again, an all-clear has been confirmed.”

Active Shooter Emergency Response Plan (ASERP)

In the event of an active shooter everyone should remember the following:

Remain Calm Trust Your Instincts

Act Smart Make Good Decisions Take Care of Yourself Take Care of Others

I. Confirmation of ThreatA. Once an active shooter event has been confirmed an announcement over the PA should immediately be broadcast as follows:

1. “An active shooter has breached the building. I repeat an active shooter has breached the building. This is NOT a drill. Please follow primary protocol and remember your ability to change to second and tertiary protocol.”

B. The main office should immediately be secured and the police should be called.C. If there are persons inside the computer lab, the lab should immediately be secured.

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II. Active Phase [Primary Protocol]A. All teachers should begin evacuation of the building following the outlined evacuation route for the designated area.B. Main office staff should designate a ‘dispatcher’ to stay on the phone with police. That dispatcher should do the following during this phase:

1. They should advise that an active shooter is in the building and the school is beginning to evacuate. 2. The caller should advise police that students and staff will be rendezvousing in the parking lot behind Breslow’s grocery.3. The caller should advise how many other staff members are safely secured in the main office.4. The caller should give the best possible description of the shooter and what type of weapon he has

a) Is it a long gun/rifle?b) A handgun?c) Or is it a shotgun?

C. Another staff member should take care of the PA system, intercoms, radios, and the “siren on sticks” (S2) system.D. Once evacuation has begun and a dispatcher is on the line the S2 system should be activated.

1. Once activated the behavior of the shooter should be observed as best as possible.2. If the shooter flees or commits suicide the police should be advised of such but an all clear will NOT be issued until police deem the scene safe.3. If the shooter does not change his behavior police should also be advised of this.

E. The non-dispatching staff member should be monitoring for any intercom or radio traffic from teachers or students.

1. As any information from these sources comes in (either from students or staff) it should be passed along to the dispatcher who will pass it along to the police.

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F. The main office will maintain this ‘command center’ readiness until police have deemed the area safe.G. Teachers will do their best to guide all students along primary evacuation routes so that students are out of the building.

1. Teachers will be prepared to fall back to secondary shelter in place (SIP) routes that lead to designated safety zones (SZ).2. Teachers will be prepared to attempt to continue evacuation of students out of building after falling back to SZs.3. Teachers must be prepared to coordinate an attack on a hostile if all other plans have failed.

H. Teachers who were successful in getting all the students within their view out of school, and have followed them to the staging area, will immediately report back to the main office with the following:

1. That they are out of the building and at the staging area.2. The numbers of students that they have in the area.3. Information on whether anyone fell behind, was injured, or is in need of immediate medical attention.

I. Teachers in the staging area must do their best to keep all students calm.J. Teachers will NOT leave the staging area until the situation has been resolved by law enforcement AND they receive an all clear from the main office

III. Barricade Phase [Secondary Protocol] A. All students and teachers who were unable to safely evacuate should immediately attempt to find a safety zone to secure themselves in.B. All teachers left in the building, should attempt to guide any students within their sight to a safety zone.C. If a safety zone is already secured by another student or teacher, a loud announcement will be made to let that person inside know who is outside.

1. This announcement should include the following:

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a) Your nameb) Your grade

D. If in a safety zone that does not have an intercom, a phone call should be made to 911. Be prepared to not get an immediate response.

1. Once a phone call is made the caller should advise police of the following information:

a) Your nameb) That you are in one of the school’s safety zone roomsc) The location that you are ind) How many other people are with you

*The school has taken the necessary steps to provide secure rooms that DO NOT need to be barricaded. DO NOT barricade safety zone rooms as you need to be able to accept other students and/or staff into the room.

E. If in a safety zone that does have an intercom (boys and girls parish center locker rooms), an occupant in the room should activate the intercom and advise the office of their situation which will include the following information:

1. Your name2. The safety zone that you are in3. How many other people are with you4. What you hear around you

F. Those in safety zones should only attempt to leave them if they feel they have a good chance to safely evacuate the building. If they feel this chance is good, it is encouraged that they take that chance.G. For those that are in a “hot zone” and feel that they cannot safely leave the room they should wait in the room until the room is cleared by law enforcement.H. For callers to 911 or safety zones with intercoms, updates should be made to dispatchers as necessary about such matters as:

1. Injuries to people in the room

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2. Whether or not you believe the room is about to be breached3. Any safety concerns that you or anyone else has in the room

I. As this event continues, and while waiting for the arrival of law enforcement, the main office should do the following:

1. Use the PA system to check each classroom connected to the system. The message should be as follows:

a) “Check status of room. If anyone is inside please respond. Again please respond.”

2. If there is no response the room is considered empty. Mark that on the map of the school.3. If there is a response ask the responder what their status is. Copy the information that the responder gives you and turn that over to the dispatcher.4. Do this “room clearing” until all rooms on the PA system have been checked.

IV. Combat Phase [Tertiary Protocol] A. Combating the hostile should only be done as a last resort when a student(s)/teacher(s) has nowhere to flee and thus is trapped in a specific location.B. If a person is forced to combat a hostile without a weapon they should make every attempt to do the following:

1. Ambush the hostile2. Sprint towards the hostile3. Attempt to grab the hostile’s weapon4. Deliver blows to the head, stomach, and groin area5. Flee from the hostile and evacuate the building if possible

a) If not possible find another secure location to hideC. If a person is with a group of people and is forced to combat a hostile without a weapon they should make every attempt to do the following:

1. Ambush the hostile

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2. Sprint towards the hostile3. One person should attempt to grab the hostile’s weapon4. The rest of the group should attack the hostile with blows to the head, stomach, and groin5. Flee from the hostile and evacuate the building if possible

a) If not possible find another secure location to hideD. If persons are forced to fight the hostile they should make attempts to arm themselves with blunt or sharp objects and follow the prescribed attack patterns for solo or group combat.E. Persons attacking a hostile should only attempt to disarm and detain IF, and only IF, the initial attack disarmed the hostile AND appears to have had a detrimental effect on the hostile.

1. Fleeing should be the encouraged response after attacking

F. All persons who attacked the hostile, and were able to evacuate the building, and get to the staging area, should immediately find a teacher and report what had happened to them.

1. Teachers should immediately report this to the main officeV. Police Response

A. For all persons that remain in the building, as police respond and clear the building they should do the following:

1. Once contacted by an officer do EXACTLY as they say.2. Do NOT reach for anything or make any sudden movements.3. If you have information on the hostile such as location, or if they are wearing body armor, yell this to the officers as you follow their orders.4. Do not question or resist if an officer detains you and places you in cuffs.

B. For all persons in safe zone rooms, the police will make contact with your room and announce themselves. Follow the instructions above once they enter your room.

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C. Once you are secured follow any and all orders that are given to you by responding officers.D. Once the scene is deemed safe and officers have debriefed you, you will be released on your own recognizance.

VI. Post-Incident DebriefA. Once the scene is safe a school representative should make contact with the students and staff at the staging area. Everyone in the staging area should be advised of the following:

1. The incident is concluded and the threat has been eliminated.2. Crisis intervention staff will be available as soon as possible.3. That time will be taken before classes and normal business resumes.4. Staff will be available at the school to take calls and all parents will be advised of any updates as they happen.5. Everyone is free to go home and that it is requested parents take their children home and not drive past or stop by the school.

B. Local crisis intervention teams should be contacted and advised of the situation (see Security Report for further information).C. Teachers should be gathered and debriefed by police as well as the school principal.

1. A debrief should include:a) Any additional information on the hostile such as:

(1) Their actions(2) Their behavior(3) Anything said by the hostile

b) Whether any teachers had contact, in the school, with the hostilec) If any teachers fought the hostiled) The next steps in returning the school to normalcy

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e) What each teacher thought went right and what went wrong

D. An e-bulletin should be sent to all parents advising them of how to interact with their children after such an event

1. See Security Report for references on what should be included

E. Information on the incident should be gathered and archived and sent to educational boards and institutions across the country advising of the following:

1. The details of the incident that occurred2. What security measures had been put into place at the school3. What went wrong and what went right while following the emergency response plan.

Being that this plan will aide in obtaining 100% survivability of all persons at the school during an active shooter event, please take what you have read

seriously. Sign below to acknowledge that you have read this plan in its entirety and that you will follow this plan to the best of your ability in the

event of an active shooter.

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