Active Shooter, Noun ‘ak-tiv ‘shu-ter
The agreed-upon definition of active shooter by US government agencies (including the White House, US Department of Justice, FBI, US Department of Education, US Department of Homeland Security, and Federal Emergency Management Agency) is “an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area.” In most cases, active shooters use firearms and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims.
Active shooter situations are unpredictable and evolve quickly. Because active shooting situations are often over within 10 to 15 minutes, before law enforcement arrives on the scene, individuals must be prepared both mentally and physically to deal with an active shooters. In most cases, active shooters use firearms(s) and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims. Individuals have been known to act without firearms such was the case in on April 2014 at Franklin Regional High School where 21 students were stabbed. It’s for this reason that ALICE also uses the terms: Active Killer; Violent Intruder; and Active Assailant.
Characteristics of an Active Shooter
A number of police and sheriffs department policies list characteristics that are often associated with active shooters. The policies note that each incident is unique and that no list of active shooter characteristics is comprehensive. The characteristics cited in various policies include:
Law Enforcement & Active Shooting Situations
The definition of active shooter is used by law enforcement to describe a situation in which a shooing is in progress and an aspect of the crime may affect the protocols used in responding to and reacting at the scene of the incident. Unlike defined crime, such as a murder or mass killing, the active aspect inherently implies that both law enforcement personnel and citizens have the potential to affect the outcome of the active shooter event based upon their responses.