Acts of school and workplace violence, including both active shooter incidents and violent protests, threaten life safety and security, undermine public confidence, and emotionally devastate affected communities. IHEs should use these resources to build campus resilience by adequately preparing for and responding to violent incidents.
The resources in this section provide useful information related to School and Workplace Violence. The resources are organized according to the relevant Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Mission Area within each category:
Active shooter incidents escalate quickly and evolve rapidly. While many conclude after a few short minutes, others stretch on for hours. IHEs should use these resources to protect their schools, safeguard the lives of their students, faculty, and staff, and facilitate the recovery process following this type of incident.
Enhancing School Safety Using a Threat Assessment Model: An Operational Guide for Preventing Targeted School Violence
U.S. Secret Service has published these resources to aid in identifying students of concern, assessing their risk for engaging in violence or other harmful activities, and identifying intervention strategies to manage that risk.
K-12 School Security: A Guide for Preventing and Protecting against Gun Violence (3 rd ed., 2022)
This guide provides preventive and protective measures to address the threat of gun violence in schools.
Active Shooter Preparedness: Run. Hide. Fight Program
This Department of Homeland Security website provides information on the Run. Hide. Fight Program, which provides products, tools, and resources to help all audiences prepare for and respond to an active shooter incident.
Higher Education Institutions - Complex & Underprepared for Active Shooter
This article discusses preparedness gaps in Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) emergency plans in the face of active shooter situations.
Active Shooter Situations: Preparing for an Active Shooter Situation
This resource offers best practices for preparing for an active shooter situation.
Active Shooter Situations: Preventing and Active Shooter
This resource highlights pre-active shooter attack behaviors displayed by past offenders as means of preventing an active shooter situation.
Active Incident Training: Preparing for the Future Threat
This article asserts that preparation must go beyond incident response, tactics, and the focus on active shooters.
20 Active Shooter and Active Killer Prevention Strategies
This resource provides a myriad of active shooter and active killer prevention strategies.
Progress Report on the President's Executive Action to Reduce Gun Violence
This resource provides a progress report on Presidential efforts to reduce gun violence.
One Voice on Disaster Preparedness
This article discusses how Run. Hide. Fight. changed the national dialogue on civilian safety.
Active Shooter: What You Can Do Training Course
This course provides guidance to individuals, including managers and employees, so that they can prepare to respond to an active shooter situation.
Options for Consideration Active Shooter Preparedness Video
The Options for Consideration video demonstrates possible actions that individuals can take if confronted with an active shooter scenario. This instructive video reviews the choices of running, hiding, or as an option of last resort, fighting the shooter. The video also shows how to assist authorities once law enforcement arrives.
Active Shooter Emergency Action Plan Video
This video describes the fundamental concepts of developing an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) for an active shooter scenario. This instructive video guides viewers through important considerations of EAP development utilizing the first-hand perspectives of active shooter survivors, first responder personnel, and other subject matter experts who share their unique insight.
Active Shooter Awareness Virtual RoundTable (Webinar)
This online webinar helps critical infrastructure owners and operators to understand the importance of creating an emergency response plan and exercising that plan and training hourly employees on how to respond should they find themselves confronted with the danger of an active shooter incident.
Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative
This website provides information on the Nationwide SAR initiative, which aims to facilitate the gathering, documenting, processing, analysis, and sharing of suspicious activities.
This mission area focuses on the ability to save lives, protect property and the environment, as well as meet the basic needs of a community during a disaster.
Active Shooter How to Respond
This resource helps IHEs prepare for and manage an active shooter incident.
Active Shooter Event Quick Reference Guide
This pamphlet prepares bystanders to run, hide, or fight an active shooter before law enforcement arrives.
Active Shooter Poster - How to Respond When an Active Shooter is in Your Vicinity
This resource helps businesses prepare to respond and manage an active shooter situation.
Active Shooter Pocket Card
This resource helps individuals prepare for and respond to an active shooter incident.
FBI's Active Shooter Resources Webpage
This FBI resource provides operational, behaviorally-based threat assessment and threat management services to help detect and prevent acts of targeted violence, helping academic, mental health, business, community, law enforcement, and government entities recognize and disrupt potential active shooters who may be on a trajectory toward violence.
Active Shooter Situations: Interacting with First Responders
This resource discusses the need to train students and staff how to interact with first responders in the wake of an active shooter attack.
Effective Active Shooter Response Starts with Integrated Campus Solutions
This article discusses best practices to maximize the efficiency and emergency preparedness of campuses with an all-in-one platform.
First Responder Guide for Improving Survivability in Improvised Explosive Device and/or Active Shooter Incidents
This document incorporates military response strategies and civilian best practices into a first responder guide for explosives attacks and active shooter incidents.
Order in the Emergency - The Importance Staging Area to Manage Crisis
This article discusses the importance of staging areas throughout the entirety of the crisis-response process.
Enhanced Dynamic Geo-Social Environment (EDGE) Virtual Active Shooter Training
Provided by the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate, EDGE is a multiplayer, scalable, online training environment for first responders to train a coordinated response to critical incidents. The first scenario includes an active shooter incident.
Active Shooter Training for Law Enforcement Officers
This website provides information on four training programs offered through the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers. These programs are designed to provide law enforcement officers with threat awareness, analytical knowledge, tactical skills, and emergency first aid skills for responding to an active shooter situation.
Introduction to Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) Training Course
Sponsored by George Washington University, this course provides members of the general public (whole community) including school personnel, public works officials, and first responders the information and skills they need to help themselves and others survive an active shooting/active killing incident.
Introduction to Tactical Emergency Casualty Care for First Care Providers Training Course
Sponsored by George Washington University, this course provides the general public, as well as school personnel, the information and skills they need to help themselves and others survive an active shooting/active killing incident with a focus on first care providers.
Tactical Emergency Casualty Care for Law Enforcement Personnel Training Course
Sponsored by George Washington University, this course trains law enforcement personnel about the TECC phases of care, including evacuation techniques. Law enforcement personnel will learn how to prioritize TECC coordinated actions in a high threat active shooter/active killing situation in order to minimize the number of casualties.
Tactical Emergency Casualty Care for Fire and EMS Personnel Training Course
Sponsored by George Washington University, this course trains fire and EMS personnel about the TECC phases of care, including evacuation techniques. Fire and EMS personnel will learn how to prioritize TECC coordinated actions in a high threat active shooter/active killing situation in order to minimize the number of casualties.
Tactical Emergency Casualty Care for First Receivers Training Course
Sponsored by George Washington University, this course teaches medical First Receivers how to care for victims of a high-threat mass casualty shooting/explosion. First Receivers will know the types of injuries that are common in these mass casualty situations and how to prioritize treatment based on TECC guidelines.
Tactical Emergency Casualty Care First Responder Integration Active Shooter/Killing Incidents Rescue Task Force Training Course
Sponsored by George Washington University, this course provides Law Enforcement, Fire and EMS commanders with the training to meet communication needs and challenges associated with an active shooter/active killing incident.
This mission area focuses on the ability to assist communities in recovering effectively following a disaster.
Active Shooter Situations: After an Active Shooter Incident
This resource offers essential EOP steps to implement after an active shooter incident occurs.
Resources that fall into the "All" category contain useful information and guidance that is relevant to all FEMA Mission Areas.
Planning and Response to an Active Shooter: An Interagency Security Committee Policy and Best Practices Guide
This resource is designed to be applicable to all buildings and facilities in the United States occupied by Federal employees.
Active Shooter Situations: Exercise
This resource offers best practices for conducting active shooter exercises.
Active Shooter
This webpage describes what actions to take before, during, and after an active shooting event and explains the signs of potential violence.
How to Prepare For and Respond During and After an Active Shooter Incident
This document explains what actions to take in preparation for, response to, and recovery from an active shooter incident.
DHS Active Shooter Preparedness
This website provides useful links to products, tools, and resources to help first responders and law enforcement prepare for and respond to an active shooter incident.
The Immigration Debates: Considerations for Campus Police and Security
This resource discusses the issue of on-campus demonstrations and offers considerations for campus police and security.
Youth Preparedness Council
This website includes information on the Youth Preparedness Council, which conducts ongoing disaster preparedness-based engagement with K-12 representatives and campus leaders.
Research Shows Mass Shootings Can be 'Contagious'
This resource discusses a new study regarding the contagious nature of mass shootings.
Aiming at Students: The College Gun Violence Epidemic
This resource analyzes shooting trends at U.S. colleges and reviewed 190 incidents at 142 colleges from 2001 to 2016.
A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013
This report provides federal, state, and local law enforcement with data and best practices for how to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recovery from active shooter incidents.
2000 to 2016 Active Shooter Incidents
This document contains a list of active shooter incidents in the United States that have been identified by the FBI from 2000 through the end of 2016.
Emergency Action Planning Trailer
The Active Shooter Emergency Action Planning (EAP) video is a comprehensive active shooter preparedness, response, and recovery resource that utilizes interviews with first responders, survivors of active shooter events, and other subject matter experts to capture best practices and lessons learned. This video combines state-of-threat awareness with state-of-practice solutions that will empower you to build resilience for your community, organization, family, and home.
Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERTT)
This website details training programs provided through the ALERTT Center at Texas State University for active shooter incidents.
Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERTT) Video
This video provides an overview of the ALERTT Training program.
Critical Infrastructure Training
This webpage provides links to various training programs for government and private sector partners offered by the DHS/Office of Infrastructure Protection. These trainings provide the knowledge and skills to implement critical infrastructure security and resilience activities.