Category Archives: Active Shooter Training

SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD ACTIVE SHOOTER AT SANTA FE,  TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL KILLS 10, INJURES 13, AFTER STUDYING MASS SHOOTING TECHNIQUES

SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD ACTIVE SHOOTER AT SANTA FE, TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL KILLS 10, INJURES 13, AFTER STUDYING MASS SHOOTING TECHNIQUES

       

 SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD ACTIVE SHOOTER AT SANTA FE,  TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL KILLS 10,
INJURES 13, 
 AFTER STUDYING  MASS 
SHOOTING TECHNIQUES FROM NEWS REPORTS

RISKAlert Report #1035 Updated:  May 20, 2018                                                      Santa Fe, Texas

At 7:25 am on a Friday morning in Santa Fe, Texas, a 17-year-old student walked into his classroom, wearing a trench coat and armed with his dad’s Remington 970 shotgun and .38 caliber pistol that he used to shoot 23 people inside his school.  Ten were killed and 13 were injured in the planned shooting.  Armed officers responded within four minutes and a gun battle
ensued with the subject.

Although a romantic failure may have triggered the attack, the shooter had long been a fan of active shooters and studied previous shootings, like pulling of the fire alarms in the recent Parkland shooting. He wore a trenchcoast, mirroring the horrific Columbine High School shooting in April, 1999, in which two teenage boys with weapons hidden under trench coats killed 12 students and one teacher

According to a witness, the shooter yelled “WOO HOO”, as he shot up the classroom.  Multiple media accounts say the gunman taunted some of his victims, asking some hiding in a closet if they wanted to answer their ringing cell phones. “You want to get that?” the attacker said, according to The Wall Street Journal.

He spared others saying he wanted his story told. Police also found five homemade pipe bombs that did not detonate.

The shooter had pursued a romantic interest, Shana Fisher, for the past four month, according to her mother, but she refused to date him.  Shana was shot and killed in the incident.  Her mother said that the previous week, her daughter, Shana, has said in media accounts that her 16-year-old daughter had rejected four months of aggressive advances from Pagourtzis.
Fisher finally stood up to him in front of the entire class, and proclaimed she would never go out with him, embarrassing him in class, her mother told the Los Angeles Times.

Many of the aspects of the attack mirrored one of the worst school shootings in American history: the massacre at Columbine High School in April, 1999, in which two teenage boys with weapons hidden under trenchcoats killed 12 students and one teacher.

LESSONS LEARNED

       1.  Even with a relatively quick 4-minute response time, there were still 10 killed and 13 injured, demonstrating that
            even a well-armed police officer cannot quickly stop the killing, once  shooting starts!!

  1. Texas State officials blamed the attack on video games, on abortions, and on too many entrances and exits
    to the high school buildings, even though the school lacked any access control, no metal detection and
    no screening of any kind.
  2. Underage students should not have ready access to firearms. The shooter’s parents apparently missed the fact that
    he assembled pipe bombs in his bedroom, had access to guns, and avidly recounted mass shootings.

  3. Why are parents fined if their child is late in returning a library book, but not if their child shoots
    and kills people with daddy’s guns?

    The massacre claimed Shana Fisher’s life, and also claimed the lives of students Sabika Sheikh, a Pakistani exchange student; Chris Stone; Jared Black, Angelique Ramirez; Christian Riley Garcia; Aaron Kyle McLeod; and Kimberly Vaughan. Teachers Glenda Ann Perkins and Cynthia Tisdale were also killed.

The people hospitalized included retired Houston police Officer John Barnes, who served as a resource officer at the school and confronted the gunman.

Pagourtzis did not attempt suicide, like the Columbine shooters, but Texas’ governor, Greg Abbott, a Republican, told reporters that the youth wanted to kill himself, citing the suspect’s journals, but lacked the courage to do so.

Dimitrios Pagourtzis,  is being held without bail and is accused of capital murder of multiple people and aggravated assault on a public servant.  he suspect won’t face the death penalty if he is convicted. Under Texas law, offenders who are under age 18 and charged with a capital offense face a maximum punishment of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

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We provide the best Active Shooter Training, Workplace Violence Assessments, and
 & CMS Facility Risk Assessments, Drills &  Training Programs.  
  www.riskandsecurityllc.com   and www.caroline-hamilton.com

 

 

 

 

Angry Iranian Female Shooter Shoots Three YouTube Staff Members in San Bruno, California Active Shooter Attack

RISKAlert Report Updated:  April 3, 2018

Nasim  Aghdam , a 39-year old YouTube user who was angry after access to her self-produced YouTube videos was reduced, drove 470 miles from Menifee in southern California to YouTube headquarters in northern California and shot three staff members with a handgun at the YouTube campus and then turned the gun on herself, inflicting a fatal injury.

Aghdam’s father, Ismail Aghdam said he had called the police, warning that she hated YouTube, and that he was afraid that she might be headed up to their headquarters after she went missing from her home.

She started shooting in a courtyard area and it appears she killed herself as law enforcement arrived on the scene.   She  was one of a handful of female shooters, and passionate about veganism and animal rights issues, and used her YouTube channel to spread her message.  She ranted online against the company’s new policies and accused them of censoring her videos and reducing their views.


She had complained on her website that “new close-minded youtube employees” had “filtered my channels” starting
in  2016, causing the number of views on her videos to drop. She posted a screenshot of her YouTube page showing that one video had received 366,591 views.

 

YouTube staff members were terrorized by the random shootings, and were searched before
being allowed to go to their cars and leave the offices.  It was the first major Workplace Violence
incident in a major Silicon Valley company and should encourage other companies to add more
security controls to their campuses.


LESSONS LEARNED
:

1.  A Workplace Violence Incident can happen anywhere and anytime!  Be Ready.

  1.  Lack of access controls (metal detectors) allowed a killer to enter the YouTube campus with a
    gun and shoot three staff members, injuring one critically.   Simple, inexpensive metal detectors
    could have eliminated this vulnerability.
  2.  Police did not respond quickly enough when they were called and alerted IN ADVANCE that the
    shooter might be heading to the YouTube campus.  She might have been apprehended on route
    during the six plus hour drive to San Bruno.


THANKS FOR READING THE RISKAlert Report
©

For more information and more great content:  write to:  caroline@riskandsecurityllc.com
We provide the best Active Shooter and CMS Facility Risk Assessments & Training Programs
 www.riskandsecurityllc.com   or   www.caroline-hamilton.com

Deputy Didn’t Fire and 17 People Died

“Good Guy with Gun” Didn’t Work at Parkland’s School Shooting Sheriff’s Deputy was Armed and
On site During Incident, but Stayed 
Out to Save Himself, Leaving Students and Staff to Die

RISKAlert Report Updated: Feb 23, 2018

According to Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, there was an armed Sheriff’s deputy on the scene of the Parkland Massacre.

He stood outside while the shooter hunted down and murdered seventeen children and staff members. The deputy could hear the screaming and the gunfire. But he let the shooting carry on for minutes that literally meant life or death.

“I’m Devastated. Sick to my stomach. There are no words. These families lost their children. We lost coaches. I’ve been to the funerals,” Sheriff Israel, obviously shaken, said at a press conference on Thursday. Asked what the officer should have done, Israel responded, “Went in. Addressed the killer. Killed the killer.”

The cowardly deputy, Scott Peterson, who left the children to fend for themselves, was put on administrative leave and now has resigned. A security camera caught the deputy outside the building, within earshot of the shootings.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, other issues in the law enforcement response have come to light, including two other deputies were placed on restricted duty on Thursday because they may have mishandled tips called in to the sheriff’s office over the past two years warning that the suspect, Nikolas Cruz, appeared intent on becoming a school shooter, Sheriff Israel said

LESSONS LEARNED:

1. ACCESS CONTROL MAKES THE DIFFERENCE. Obviously, arming teachers
won’t work.  Metal detectors work 100% of the time, and don’t hang back in
the parking lot.

2. Starting Monday, we can help schools LOCK THEIR DOORS, get some basic Access
    Controls in place,  and commit to PROTECTING THESE STUDENTS!


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For more information and more great content: www.riskandsecurityllc.com or www.caroline-hamilton.com

JOIN MY SECURITY PROTECTION COALITION TO HELP SCHOOLS GET THE SECURITY THEY NEED!
Write to caroline@riskandsecurityllc.com for details.

www.caroline-hamilton.com

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#ParklandStrong                                              #SchoolShooting                                                #ParklandMassacre

Seventeen Killed, Fifteen Wounded in Parkland School Shooting

RISKAlert Report # 1012

 


Update:  February 14, 2018

Parkland Deadly School Shooting 2 miles from me and here’s what I saw for
Valentine’s Day – BULLETS NOT FLOWERS at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas
High School

3rd Deadliest School Shooting in History – called a SCHOOL MASSACRE

I live right next to Parkland, FL and was out shopping at 2:30 when I heard the sirens from about a dozen
police cars and emergency vehicles. They followed the street right by my house, and as soon I got home,
I checked the TV and saw what had happened – another  deadly School Shooting.

Parkland is usually so quiet, just YESTERDAY it was named safest city in the US. Another student said he
knew the kid who had the gun, and that the student had shown him photos of guns on his phone

The shooter, now identified as Nikolas Cruz, was caught in his care close to  the school, and has been
charged in court. Fifteen others are till in the hospital.

I could see the police helicopter from my upstairs window.
So when I do active shooter assessments for healthcare
and other critical organiztions all day, and write about these incidents every day and night.

Here’s the real thing – right next to me!

My kids are out of school, but my hear still stopped, and I wanted to call every parent I know and check on their kids.  I dread seeing the list of the injured. My grandson’s classmate’s father was killed.  He was a coach at the high school.

So now this close knit community has been terrorized and there is no resolution. The person in custody is only
19-20 years old himself, and, accordingly to one of his friends, thought that having guns was ‘really cool’.
Well – it’s not really cool. It’s really horrible, really stupid.

The most aggravating thing about this is: One more time, it’s too late. No access control = high chance of
active shooter. No checking or scanning backpacks and here’s what you get. Dead and injured children
and teachers. 

 

LESSONS LEARNED:

FORGET WHY he did it — WE OWE IT TO OUR CHILDREN TO PUT PREVENTION FIRST!
This can happen anywhere, and it just happened again!

Contact me directly at caroline@riskandsecurityllc.com

THANKS FOR READING THE RISKAlert Report

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Preparedness Programs

#ParklandShooting   #ActiveShooter    #SchoolShooting

Sutherland Springs Church Shooter Practiced by Shooting Dogs, Fracturing Baby’s Skull- Could it happen at your Church?

Every day more information comes out about the terrible murders by the Active Shooter at the Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Since my mother was from Texas, and my father taught Adult Baptist Sunday School for 36 years, this one was personal.

This is a classic case of how the risk of an active shooter is everywhere these days. With so many recent shooting incidents, because it was done in a church, it makes it worse and should encourage all churches to hold active shooter training classes for their congregations.

No question that the shooter was a monster. After uncovering his record for domestic violence and even fracturing his infant’s skull, it turned out he practiced his shooting skills on pet dogs. He bought dogs on Craigslist, or took dogs promising to give them good homes, and then practiced shooting and killing them.

Houses of worship have been adverse to putting in stricter security, because they obviously want to be open and welcoming, but that
doesn’t seem to be possible these days.

A is all about Access Control. Most churches have some kind of vestibule, a sort of anteroom before you actually enter the church. Instead of haphazardly asking people to bring in their guns, maybe it’s time to have a “watcher” in the vestibule, keeping an eye out on who’s entering the church or synagogue.

Most shooters enter their chosen site with guns blazing, not hidden.
Getting back to basics, have some kind of access control is the first step. So keeping them out in the first place is the best option.

Another option might be a few cameras with monitoring station in the church office and someone there to watch before the services to catch someone taking their guns out of their car before they even reach the church or synagogue.  This would be a simple solution because it would only need to be manned before, during and immediately after the services.

Another favorite control, panic alarms can be very expensive and useful for a group shooting situation.  It gives the instant ability to ‘sound the alarm’ and get people down, or even better, out the side door and also gives advance notice to the potential victims.

Assuming we’re not profiling the entire group in advance, the best protection is doing quarterly security facility risk assessments.  These assessments give you a quantitative measure of your risk, including not only looking at the threat level (the threat assessment part of the total assessment), but also reviewing a list of the 50 controls we’ve identified that will enhance security, and looking at the interaction between the highest potential risk, balanced by the offsetting, or preventive controls.

Every terrible incident like the shooting at the Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs should be an opportunity for building a foundation of security awareness in your community or congregation.

TO FIND OUT ABOUT AN ACTIVE SHOOTER PROGRAM FOR YOUR CHURCH
Contact me :   caroline@riskandsecurityllc.com   or info@riskandsecurityllc.com

 

RISKAlert Case Study #841 – Physician Shot & Killed in Metairie

Dateline:  March 25, 2016 – New Orleans, Louisiana

A local Doctor was shot and killed by a patient while he treated others in his office near East Jefferson General Hospital in New Orleans yesterday.

The 73-year old shooter walked into the doctor’s office, and killed the doctor with a single shot to the head.  He then ran out of the office and into a Wendy’s restaurant.  Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies were nearby and they responded and chased the shooter into a nearby Wendy’s restaurant, where the shooter killed himself by putting the gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger.

The doctor, 75-year old Dr. Elbert Goodier, a urologist,  was treating patients at the time of the shooting.  Colleagues said that Dr. Goodier was a very kind and popular physician.  The shooter’s family said that the shooter had been treated by Dr. Goodier in the past.  While the shooter did not have a criminal background, his family said that he had suffered from mental illness in the past.

Dr. Goodier had practiced for 50 years in the New Orleans area, according to East Jefferson General Hospital.

According to Wendy’s employees, a woman was placing her order when
the shooter pulled the triggeWendysShooter-NOLAr as the deputies advanced on him.   The man’s body remained inside of Wendy’s more than an hour after the shootings. Yellow police tape cordoned off the parking lot and the hospital’s exit lanes. Some workers and patrons were also still in the building as of 4 p.m., speaking with
investigators. Outside, other workers, concerned relatives and onlookers watched.

This type of shooting, the Baby Boomer Shooter, is the second attack on a urologist, and one in an increasing number of seniors who attack their physicians.  Another shooter killed his urologist in Reno, Nevada and injured two others before taking his own life. The shooter said had struggled for 3 years with ailments resulting from a botched vasectomy, according to messages he posted on an online support group and a law enforcement investigation.


Lesson Learned
:

While doctors have not been a target in the past, they have been shot and killed recently by patients unhappy with medical results.  All hospitals and medical offices should review their access controls systems, based on the increasing, and alarming rate of attacks on healthcare workers.

                    Stay Alert and make sure to subscribe to RISKAlerts
Sign Up at: caroline@riskandsecurityllc.com

RISKAlert Report # 840, Man Shoots Neighbor, Takes Body to His Lawyer

Dateline:  February 17, 2016

A Florida Man Shot his Neighbor to Death, Put the Body in the Back of his Pickup Truck
and Drove Dead Body to his Lawyer’s Office

A Fort Myers, Florida man shot his neighbor to death during a struggle before loading the body into the back of his pickup truck and driving it to a lawyer’s office, according to the News Press of Fort Myers, Marshall claimed he shot the neighbor in self defense.

Lawyer Robert Harris, said that John Marshall (the shooter), walked into his Fort Myers law firm claiming he had shot and killed neighbor Ted Hubbell in self-defense and had the body outside in the bed of his pickup.

The shocked attorneys called 911 and Marshall spent hours at Harris’ office before finally leaving
for the hospital around 10:30 p.m. that night.  Marshall had a swollen lip, missing tooth and what
appeared to be two broken thumbs.

According to attorney Robert Harris, JohDeath Investigationn
Marshall wrestled a gun away from neighbor
Hubbell and fatally shot him earlier Wednesday.
Harris said late Wednesday that Marshall will
not be arrested, because he shot in self defense.

Lessons Learned:

1.   Avoid fights with neighbors.

2.   If a fight seems unavoidable, call 911 and wait for police in a safe area.

3.   Do not transport a body to your lawyers office in the bed of your
pick up truck!

 

RISKAlert® is a publication of Risk & Security LLC
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DOD moves military bases to a higher alert status

In an unusual move today, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) raised the security level at
U.S. military bases because of the increasing concerns about possible attacks by ISIS (ISIL).

While the DOD cited no specific threat, they did refer to the recent attack in Garland, Texas,
(last Tuesday), after ISIS claimed responsibility for the Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest
featuring cartoons about “the Prophet”.

The threat level was raised to ‘Bravo’ level, and it’s worth noting that it’s the first time the
threat level has been that high since the anniversary of the 911 attacks on September 11,
2011
,
which was the 10th anniversary of the 2001 attacks.

A higher threat level could mean 100% ID checks at the entrance to all military bases, including
air force bases, army bases, navy and marine bases.   It also puts base military police on alert
to be highly situationally aware, including investigating anything they see that might be
terms “suspicious”.  The FBI will also increase surveillance of suspected pro-ISIS individuals.

Persistent stories have been focusing on the Texas border, which may be harboring an
ISIS camp, and the right wing media has reported that an ISIS camp may be sending their
soldiers into the US on specific missions.  Although this has been widely discredited by
officials,  some circles are reporting a link to the Army’s Operation Jade Helm, a massive
military drill across nine states, which is slated for July 15th, to September 15th, 2015.

We encourage individuals to be situationally alert AT ALL TIMES, and a increase
in military alert levels would certainly be something to note.

 

 

 

Doctor Shot and Killed in Grudge Shooting Over “Mom”

RISKAlert- Active Shooter   No. 625,   January 21, 2015, Boston, Mass.

Middle-Aged Shooter kills Cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and then Kills
Himself, in an apparent Grudge Shooting Because the Doctor had Operated on his Mother.

On Tuesday morning on Jan. 21, at 11 am, Stephen Pasceri, 55, walked into the Shapiro Center
at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and asked to see cardiologist, Dr. Michael J. Davidson.  When
he saw Dr. Davidson, outside of an exam, he shot him twice, critically injuring him.

Dr. Davidson later died from his injuries. Pasceri then went to the 2nd floor and killed himself with a gunshot
to the head.  Later, it was discovered that Dr. Davidson had operated on Pasceri’s mother, Marguerite, and
she had died on November 15, 2014. Pasceri’s sister was quoted as saying, “He loved his mom, and he
loved her very much. He appeared 
to be handling her death well,” the sister said of her brother.

“Everything seemed to be going really well. I have no idea why he snapped like this.
He was a great guy. He took care of his family, he had a beautiful house and he has four
beautiful children. 
He was an upstanding citizen.”

The hospital locked down and rushed Dr. Davidson into surgery, but he died during the night from his injuries.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s COO said the hospital was one of the first to institute an active shooter
training program. The hospital does not use metal detectors.

Lessons Learned :    “A is for Access Control”

1.  Metal Detectors can be are a reliable tool to Prevent In-Hospital Shootings.

2.  Active Shooter Drills are NOT ENOUGH as these incidents unfold in just a few minutes.

3.  Installing ‘NO WEAPONS’ Signage at Entrances can be a deterrent to these first time shooters.

Despite having a good job, family, and a beautiful home, when confronted with a mid-life crisis, his mother’s
death, another middle-aged  shooter goes to a hospital and shoots the doctor, in a scenario that resembles
the 
Johns Hopkins shooting in 2010.   To protect staff and patients, hospitals will have to increase their
security protective measures, including use of metal detectors, no weapons signage and
situational awareness of the staff.

RISKAlerts is a publication of Risk & Security LLC.
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RISKAlert November, 2014 Updated Incident Planning for Healthcare Facilities

Incorporating Active Shooter Incident Planning into Health Care Facility Emergency Operations Plans

National preparedness efforts, including planning, are based on U.S. Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 8: Preparedness, which was signed by the President in March 2011.  This updated  directive represents an “evolution” in understanding of national preparedness based on lessons learned from rom natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy, terrorist acts like the Boston Bombing and active shooter and other violent incidents.

Preparedness is centered in five areas: Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery. These concepts are applied to Health Care Facility (HCFs) Planning for active shooters and other violent incidents.

Emergency Operations Plans for Health Care Facilities (EOPs) should be living documents that are routinely reviewed and consider all types of hazards, including the possibility of an active shooter or terrorist incident. As law enforcement continues to draw lessons learned from actual emergencies, HCFs should incorporate those lessons learned into existing emergency plans or in newly created EOPs.

It advises a whole community approach that includes staff, patients, and visitors as well as individuals with access and functional needs. Examples of these populations include children, older adults, pregnant women, individuals with disabilities, etc.

The key concepts include not only familiar concepts like “Run-Hide-Fight” but also concepts on addressing a wider range of risks (threats), how to do drills, improvement of situational awareness activities, expanding the definitions of risks, how to do Psychological First Aid (PFA), and how to integrate these with HIPAA guidelines and Rules and the importance and role of Security in Emergency Operations Planning (EOPs).

Lesson  Learned :    Don’t Wait to Respond!

A 2005 investigation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology into the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, found that people close to the floors impacted waited longer to start evacuating than those on unaffected floors.   Similarly, during the Virginia Tech shooting, individuals on campus responded to the shooting with varying degrees of urgency. (ref:  Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster: Occupant Behavior, Egress, and Emergency Communications.)

            Frequent Security Situational Awareness Training, and Active Shooter –
Disaster Drills can prevent this “frozen” phenomena and save lives in
a violent incident , a terrorist attack, or a disaster scenario.


RISKAlerts are
publications of Risk & Security LLC