Workplace Violence is a legitimate concern to business owners, employees, and law enforcement. Simpson Security and Investigative Advisory Group, LLC can assist businesses with Workplace Violence prevention strategies and training as well as interventions and investigations.
The January 2014 issue of the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin contains some interesting facts on Active Shooter incidents between 2000 and 2012. An “Active Shooter” is commonly defined as: An individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area.
[Below is excerpted from FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, January 2014; “Active Shooter Events from 2000 to 2012” by J. Pete Blair, Ph.D., M. Hunter Martaindale, M.S., and Terry Nichols, M.S.]
Frequency of Attacks: There has been a definite increase over the past 12 years. The number of events drastically increased following 2008. The rate at which these events occurred went from approximately 1 every other month between 2000 and 2008 (5 per year) to more than 1 per month between 2009 and 2012 (almost 16 per year). There were 72 people shot and 39 killed in 2013.
Location: Business locales (e.g., retail stores, office buildings, and factories/warehouses) were the most frequently attacked locations. Schools, both K-12 and institutions of higher education, were the second-most attacked locations at 29 percent. Approximately 1 out of 5 ASEs [Active Shooter Events] occurred in outdoor environments. Eighteen percent of the attackers went mobile during their attacks; that is, the perpetrator started at one location and then moved to another while still actively attacking.
Police Response Time: The median response time was 3 minutes—fast by law enforcement standards.
Number Shot: The median number of people shot per event was five.
Realtionship Between Shooter and Victims: The shooter did not have any apparent connection (such as being a current or former student/employee) with the attack location in 45 percent of events. In 55 percent of the incidents, the shooter did have a connection with the attack location.
Shooter Equipment: In about 60 percent of the attacks the most powerful weapon used was a pistol. In 8 percent it was a shotgun, and the most powerful weapon used was a rifle in about 25 percent of the cases. Shooters brought multiple weapons in about one-third of the attacks. Perpetrators brought improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to the attack site in 3 percent of the cases and wore body armor in 5 percent.
Conclusion of All Incidents: Approximately half of the events (49 percent) ended before law enforcement arrived on scene. This points to the phenomenal speed with which these incidents occur.
Civilians Trained to React: The five highest casualty events since 2000 happened despite police arriving on scene in about 3 minutes. Important are the actions that civilians take to protect themselves during the 3 or more minutes that it takes the police to arrive. Civilians need to be trained about what to do if one of these attacks occurs.
(The complete article can be found at http://leb.fbi.gov/2014/january/active-shooter-events-from-2000-to-2012)