Active Shooter Response

The first officers to arrive at an active shooter scene must determine the nature of what is happening and coordinate the responding units. Try and find out how many suspects there are, the nature of their weapons, their descriptions, and where they are located.

Time is essential and so once three or four officers are on site you need to move rapidly towards the shooter. The team needs to concentrate on stopping the shooter, not rescuing victims; leave that for follow up officers and paramedics.

The team must rapidly stop the active shooter to stop more people from becoming victims. Once the shooter is located, if he does not surrender, then you must engage him in accordance with your agency shooting policy. Generally, if he is continuing to threaten people with a deadly weapon, then the shooter should be shot until he stops being a threat. Once the threat stops, take the suspect into custody; that's what the SGT Says.