The May 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas was the third deadliest school shooting in the U.S. where a man—armed with an AR15-style rifle—killed 19 nineteen students and two teachers and wounded 17 others. This and so many other violent acts on school campus have schools seeking training and other protections for teachers, students and administrators.
A.L.I.C.E. is a widely implemented active-shooter training program and mindset for schools and businesses that reaches over one million students. Below are the A.L.I.C.E. guidelines along with our professional opinion on what could have, and sadly should have been done to prevent devastation from school shootings.
A – Alert. Alert is your first notification of danger.
The alert or alarm is not your first notification of danger. There are usually many notices or red flags before violence occurs. Whether actions in or out of school, social mediaor in-person threats, we must take potential warnings much more seriously.
L – Lockdown. Barricade the room. Prepare to EVACUATE or COUNTER if needed.
Lockdowns immobilize and paralyze movement. Direction for movement out of the danger zone, even during an active event, should be to run. It widens the target area and reduces risk of injury.
I – Inform. Communicate the intruder’s location and direction in real time.
Panicked and terrified children at Robb Elementary were trying to call their loved ones, giving incorrect information regarding their location while under duress. This approach will likely confuse any kind of appropriate response. Depending on their age, children are more likely to call loved ones than law enforcement but calling law enforcement could give a better chance of enacting appropriate action. Unfortunately, if the shooter is already on premises, this may be a reaction that is too little too late.
C – Counter. Create noise, movement, distance, and distraction with the intent of reducing the shooter’s accuracy. The counter is not fighting.
In “L” it was lockdown and barricade. Students at Robb Elementary were told to make noise and distract. Surely, if an evacuation is not implemented, it is better to stay quiet and not draw attention to your location. It is unlikely that shooters will be distracted by anything other than being engaged by an armed professional. Are children expected to play noisy hide and seek with an active shooter? Shooters are fundamentally cowards and had law enforcement engaged, immediately and aggressively, this Uvalde tragedy might have been avoided.
E – Evacuate. When safe to do so, remove yourself from the danger zone.
At this point in A.L.I.C.E. training, the message is about mitigation and not prevention. Evacuation should be the first priority if there is any window of opportunity to do so (no pun intended). There was enough time and notice at Robb Elementary to evacuate instead of hiding. It is also critical to implement a double-check system for making certain that all windows and doors were locked. The classroom where victims were located was on the first floor, and had the classroom door been locked, there would have been time to pass children out of the window. Once outside the building, children should be told to run as fast as they can to safety.
Running out of the front door or climbing out of windows when the shooter is elsewhere would have given children a much better chance of survival as opposed to hiding in the same classroom.
For more information on personal safety training and anonymous reporting for schools please visit: www.SAFESavesLives.com/NPTA e-Mail Info@SAFESavesLives.com call 760.280.2838
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