If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.

- Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father of the United States of America

Failing to plan for an active shooter situation means one thing and one thing only: People are going to die.

I'll repeat that.

Failure to have a specific, written out plan and being expertly trained what to do if an armed psychopath comes into your business means one thing and one thing only:

People in your place of business are going to die. And, you may be one of those people.

You might think active shooter situations are isolated, uncommon occurrences.  That's what the people in the following example thought, too.  The names of the people and the company in the following narrative have been withheld to insure privacy.  Keep reading.

Karen is a programmer for a midsized IT company in the Pacific Northwest. Like millions of Americans, Karen gets up in the morning and goes to work. And for the most part, her days are uneventful.

However, like millions of Americans, Karen does work with other people.  And, her fellow employee, Jen, is going through a difficult divorce. Apparently there are minor children involved.  And, there is a vicious custody battle going on.  Of course, this type of family situation is usually not spoken aloud. And, a divorce attorney will actually instruct their client not to speak about the case with anyone.  Karen could see that Jen was preoccupied.  After all, Karen's desk was right next to Jen's.  However, neither Karen, Karen's employer or her fellow employees had any knowledge of what was really going on in Jen's personal life at the time.  And, even if they did know, divorce and child custody battles are commonplace now.  So, while that situation is upsetting, it happens frequently.  Is there really any cause for concern? Keep reading.

Jen's spouse, Phil, has been to Jen's place of business on more than one occasion over the years. He is a familiar face. So, when Phil showed up to surprise Jen with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, the receptionist just smiled and commented, "Oh, that's so sweet."  And, of course Jen's soon to be ex-husband was allowed to walk back to Jen's work desk. 

Jen saw Phil coming and thought perhaps it was some type of deluded attempt at a peace offering, but nothing more.  Phil placed the flowers on Jen's desk.  He then said, "This can be put on your gravestone."  He pulled out a revolver, pointed it at Jen and pulled the trigger.

He then opened fire on Karen and 3 other people in close proximity.  2 other employees were killed.  Karen survived.  However, she has permanently lost the use of her left arm. And, to end the massacre, Phil turned the weapon on himself and ended the situation.  Absolutely no justice of any kind will be forthcoming.

Of course, the questions are: "Was this situation foreseeable? Could this situation have been avoided?"

The facts of the matter are:

1. The situation absolutely could have been prevented.
2. This entire situation statistically displayed a very high probability for violence occurring.
3. No active shooter plan or training of any kind was in place at the company.
4. 4 people died needlessly.
5. One person was partially maimed.   
6. 3 people were murdered in cold blood.
7. Two minor children are orphaned.

All this happened because management chose not to consult with experts on how to prevent and - if need be - to expertly respond to an active shooter situation.

When the families of the deceased and injured decided to litigate for gross negligence, do you think the company's insurance policy paid for the legal bills? No chance.

Did the punitive damages ultimately put that firm out of business?  In this case, yes.  Most company's don't have millions of dollars in cash just lying around to pay out large sum lawsuits. 

As security professionals with over 50 years of combined experience, we have been trained on how to identify potential threats, plan appropriately and prevent those threats from materializing wherever possible. We utilize this training and experience to expertly plan in advance and to make sure that no harm will come to our clients. We will also plan a response should things happen and prepare our clients on how to react and recover from any situation 

Your life and the lives of your employees and customers are every bit as valuable as a dignitary, head of state and even the President of the United States of America. 

What is the bottom line?

If you fail to EXPERTLY plan on what specific actions to take in an active shooter situation, you can be ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEED that someone is going to be really badly hurt, maimed or murdered. 

Expert training and guidance are essential.

And there is absolutely no one-size-fits-all training to be had.

The plan is fluid based on the attacker, the environment, the people...and the list goes on. 

Unlike a stranger in a crowd of strangers, an active shooter situation in the workplace is just the opposite.  These armed sociopaths are not strangers walking in off the street.  These murders are almost always committed by:

• current employees
• former employees
• significant others or spouses of existing employees
• former significant others/spouses of existing employees

Translation: In most cases, these cold-blooded murderers turn out to be people that you know quite well.  They are just people that have reached their proverbial breaking point because of some real or imagined slight.  And, now they feel that they have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO LOSE. 

Without expert training, you are probably never going to see it coming. And, if it does come your way, without the proper training, you will have nearly no chance at avoiding serious injury or death.  However, you don't need to become another statistic. 

You don't need to live with the guilt of what action you COULD have taken.

What do you need to do now? You already know the answer.

Pick up the phone and call us.   Or, click on the button below and schedule a time for us to make a comprehensive assessment.

If you fail to plan for an active shooter situation, you can plan on people losing their lives.  One of those lives might be yours.