FBI Active Shooter Safety Resources
The FBI defines an "active shooter" as one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area. Recent active shooter incidents have underscored the need for a coordinated response by law enforcement and other first responders to save lives.
The FBI is committed to working with its partners to protect schools, workplaces, houses of worship, medical facilities, transportation centers, government facilities, other public gathering sites, and communities.
Report a threat by calling
1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324)
or report online at
tips.fbi.gov
Overview of the FBI's Role in Active Shooter Incidents
Shortly after the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, the FBI sought ways to better assist its law enforcement partners. Two actions enhanced these efforts.
- The Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act of 2012, signed into law by the president in January 2013, permits the U.S. Attorney General—at the request of appropriate state or local law enforcement personnel—to provide federal assistance during active shooter incidents and mass killings (defined by the law as three or more people) in public places. The attorney general delegated this responsibility to the FBI.
- Now is the Time, an initiative undertaken after the Sandy Hook shooting, led to the establishment of a White House working group comprised of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Homeland Security, Department of Education, and Department of Health and Human Services. DOJ, led by the FBI, was specifically tasked with training law enforcement and other first responders to ensure protocols for responding to active shooter situations are consistent across the country.
Active Shooter Attack Prevention and Preparedness (ASAPP)
Training for Civilians
The FBI conducts outreach, education, and training with internal and external government and private sector partners through Active Shooter Attack Prevention and Preparedness (ASAPP) training to better prevent, prepare for, and respond to active shooter incidents in the United States and abroad.
ASAPP is a two-hour course developed by the FBI’s Office of Partner Engagement that combines lessons learned from years of research and employs scenario-based exercises to help participants practice the decision-making process of the Run, Hide, Fight principles and take necessary actions for survival.
Please contact the active shooter coordinator or private sector coordinator at your local FBI field office for questions regarding ASAPP training.
ASAPP Resources
Run. Hide. Fight.
These training videos demonstrate the three tactics you can use to keep yourself and others safe during an active shooter attack—run, hide, and fight. Learning these principles now will prepare and empower you to put them into practice—and survive—should the unthinkable occur.
Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT)
Training for Law Enforcement
The FBI partners with the ALERRT Center at Texas State University to provide active shooter response training to law enforcement partners.
ALERRT Level 1 is a two-day course designed to prepare law enforcement responders to work in small teams to neutralize an active shooter threat, control the scene, provide initial emergency medical care for critically wounded individuals, and get them evacuated quickly and safely to a location so they can receive definitive medical care.
ALERRT Level 1 is considered the national standard for law enforcement response to an active shooter incident and has been adopted by numerous law enforcement agencies across the country as part of their basic academy training for all new officers.
Please contact the active shooter coordinator at your local FBI field office for questions regarding how the FBI can assist local law enforcement with scheduling and providing ALERRT training.
Visit https://le.fbi.gov for additional law enforcement resources.
Operational/Victim Assistance
When an active shooter incident occurs, the FBI proactively assists local, state, campus, and tribal law enforcement first responders, supplementing resources as needed.
The FBI can:
- Send multiple investigators to the scene
- Integrate into an established command post
- Establish a mobile command post
- Mobilize and deploy critical incident response teams
- SWAT
- Crisis management personnel
- Evidence response
- Behavioral analysis
- Bomb technicians
- Public information specialists
- Leverage resources from a regional computer forensics laboratory (RCFL)
Another essential part of our operational response is our victim assistance program. The FBI’s Victim Services Division (VSD), established in 2001, provides a variety of support services to victims/family members, first responders, investigative teams, and other operational elements.
VSD assets available to support active shooter incidents include our field office victim specialists and members of our Victim Assistance Rapid Deployment Team from around the country, who are specially trained to handle mass casualty incidents.
Active Shooter Productions
Echoes of Columbine is a 30-minute documentary that chronicles the evolution of targeted school attacks since 1999, while uncovering the catalysts, motivations, and pre-attack warning signs of potential perpetrators.
Combining with other advocates from law enforcement and psychology, In the Aftermath presents ideas and concepts about how our schools can and must provide children with both physical and psychological safety.
Active Shooter Studies
The FBI's Office of Partner Engagement's Violence Reduction Unit has researched active shooter incidents over the past 24 years and published the following comprehensive studies in coordination with FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, FBI's Critical Incident Response Group, and ALERRT.
Additional Studies
- Active Shooter Incidents: 20 Year Review, 2000-2019
- Active Shooter Incidents: List, 2000-2018
- Active Shooter Incidents: Topical One Pagers, 2000-2018
- A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013
- Law Enforcement Bulletin: Active Shooter Events: 2000-2012
- Past Active Shooter Reports: 2019 | 2018 | 2016 & 2017 | 2014 & 2015
Additional Resources and Publications
Prevention and Preparedness
- Making Prevention a Reality: Identifying, Assessing, and Managing the Threat of Targeted Attacks
- A Study of Pre-Attack Behaviors in the United States Between 2000 and 2013
- Quick Reference Guide: A Study of the Pre-Attack Behaviors of Active Shooters in the United States Between 2000 and 2013
- Campus Attacks
- Violence Prevention in Schools
Emergency Operations Plans
- Developing Emergency Operations Plans: A Guide for Businesses
- Developing Emergency Operations Plans for Schools
- Developing Emergency Plans for Houses of Worship
- Planning and Response in a Health Care Setting
- Incorporating Active Shooter Planning into Health Care Facility Emergency Plans
- Developing Emergency Plans for Institutions of Higher Learning
After-Action Reports
Links for Requesting Health & School Data
- For matters relating to health information privacy, please visit HIPAA Home | HHS.gov.
- For matters relating to Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, please visit Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Partner Agency Resources
- Vice President Biden Marks Progress on Executive Actions to Help Reduce Gun Violence (White House)
- Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program (Bureau of Justice Assistance, Department of Justice)
- Campus Safety (Department of Education)
- Active Shooter Preparedness (CISA, Department of Homeland Security)
