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Students and staff attend training seminar to better prepare them in the event of an active-shooter crisis
By Sean Barron
YOUNGSTOWN
If an armed intruder were to come to your workplace or school, would you feel empowered enough and be equipped with the skills to make life-saving decisions?
“It’s likely the most important and first thing you want to do, if possible,” Sgt. Danica Buzard of the Youngstown State University Police Department stressed, referring to safely evacuating a building or area containing an active shooter.
Knowing how to get out of that type of life-threatening situation was a main concept Buzard discussed during Friday morning’s ALICE (alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate) workshop in YSU’s Kilcawley Center.
About 30 students, staff and others attended the two-hour training seminar to better prepare them in the event of an active-shooter crisis. The session also explored why the traditional lockdown method by itself often is ineffective.
Being alert is the first step toward increased awareness of a threat, a crucial piece of which is receiving notifications from others pertaining to the danger, Buzard noted.
Lockdown includes using tables, chairs and any other heavy objects to barricade a door, which is important because shooters know they have little time before police arrive. Consequently, they likely won’t waste precious seconds trying to get in and will move on, she explained, adding that tying belts around a door’s hinges or doorknobs is highly recommended.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, simply locking the door to a room, turning off the lights, closing the blinds and hunkering under desks in a manner similar to practicing a tornado drill is rarely effective in active-shooter crises, Buzard pointed out.
“That more or less makes you an active target,” she warned.
Buzard noted that Liviu Librescu, a professor who was one of 32 people killed in the April 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., encouraged his students to escape through the windows, which undoubtedly saved many lives.
During such a crisis, safely communicating with others via text message, 911 calls and other means in real time about the shooter’s location and direction of travel is essential. Similarly, it’s important to be flexible because such situations change quickly, so people should “stay calm and think outside the box,” Buzard continued.
Countering “is a strategy of last resort,” and can be used to distract and disarm the shooter. In this case, people can throw books, chairs or any available objects at the intruder, causing the shooter to be off balance, then “swarm” the person, meaning to immobilize and take to the ground, she explained.
In addition, people should move about as much as possible because moving targets are harder to hit than stationary ones, Buzard said, noting that most active shooters have little or no formal firearms training.
Once a shooter is disarmed, the next steps are to place the weapon into or under a trash can and away from the intruder, then wait for police to arrive, she added.
Once evacuated, it’s important for a safe area to have been established, Buzard said, adding that people should refrain from trying to leave the area in their vehicles.
Among those happy with Friday’s program were Kim Johnson, Christine Hanysh and Jeanne Sokol, all of whom work for the Mahoning County Educational Service Center, which oversees 27 preschool classrooms and 17 such sites.
The three women want to see teachers in the stand-alone preschools receive the ALICE training, they said.
As much as law-enforcement personnel are trained to handle such life-or-death crises, ordinary citizens remain the first line of defense, Buzard stressed.
“You guys are capable, even though you don’t carry guns or never wear badges,” she said. “You can be effective in active shootings.”