IN-DEPTH: How Active Shooter Response Has Evolved Since Columbine, Aurora, and Uvalde

The Century 16 movie theatre is seen where a gunman attacked moviegoers during an early morning screening of the Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises," in Aurora, Colo., on July 20, 2012. Thomas Cooper/Getty Images

On March 27, officers from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) responded to calls of an active shooter at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, and neutralized the threat within 14 minutes.

MNPD’s response was a stark contrast to another elementary school shooting in May 2022 at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

“There’s compelling evidence that the law enforcement response to the attack at Robb Elementary was an abject failure and antithetical to everything we’ve learned over the last two decades since the Columbine massacre,” Col. Steve McCraw of the Texas Department of Public Safety told the Texas Senate last year. “Three minutes after the subject entered the west building, there was sufficient number of armed officers wearing body armor to isolate, distract, and neutralize the subject.”

McCraw said the only thing stopping the officers from moving into the room with the shooter was the on-scene commander who “decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children.”

Uvalde was an example of what not to do in the case of a school shooter, but active-shooter response training nationwide has evolved over the years, from the aforementioned 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado to the 2012 Century 16 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado.

No Room for Negotiation

“Uvalde changed everything. … There is no longer a time period where you can try to negotiate and mitigate any further carnage,” Joseph Giacalone, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a retired New York City Police Department detective sergeant, told The Epoch Times in an interview. “So it has come down to the point now where every time we have an active shooter, the police are going to be sent in there to end the threat. As simple as that.”

Nashville Police Department officers rush toward the shooter at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., on March 27, 2023. Nashville Police Department via The Epoch Times

Giacalone said police departments have to gear up for these situations literally and mentally for officers involved in active shooter situations today.

“We’re in a new paradigm here in regards to active shooters, and unfortunately, it’s always going to end in death, no matter what,” he said. “Unfortunately, there’s going to be situations where police officers will continue to be shot or shot at. That’s the tough job that trainers and officers have in front of them.”

He added that situations such as the shooting at a teen birthday party in Alabama in April are different compared to a school or workplace shooting, where someone goes into a building or room intent on killing people.

“When you have a situation where somebody is walking in and intending on killing as many people as they can, then this is how it’s going to end,” he added.

More Uvalde Lessons

“Uvalde brought out a lot of problems regarding response times,” he said. “I think police departments have now taken cue from the outrage from the public about waiting too long or trying to see if officers can open up a line of negotiation. No matter what, the public has pretty much demanded that the police jump right in and end the threat.”

In this image from surveillance video, a gunman carrying a rifle enters and walks down a hallway at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District/Austin American-Statesman via AP

He explained the option to negotiate rather than subdue the threat isn’t an option the public accepts anymore.

“The public has made that perfectly clear,” he added. “The horror of Uvalde brought that all out—it’s pretty much the standard of what not to do.”

Giacalone said that, although the situation was unfortunate, Nashville’s response to the shooting at The Covenant School has become an example of what to do.

MNPD’s Training Evolution

MNPD’s academy instructor for active shooter training, Sgt. Justin Coker, said training today is similar to what he was originally taught as a rookie in 2007, only with new additions.

“When you look at what happened in Columbine, the police response was very traditional for law enforcement across the country at the time,” Coker said. “It was more of a SWAT response. With that fateful day in Colorado, everyone learned that we have to do something immediately and differently.”

Columbine led to an evolution on training nationally and at the local level, with departments focusing on preparing for these incidents.

“Like anything that evolves, we’ve just learned to train, spend more time, and spend more resources on training,” he said. “Looking at the incidents since 1999 to now nationally, they happen at a much more frequent rate. It’s not just an anomaly that you see every once in a while. It’s an unfortunate truth that it’s become the new norm that you see more in the headlines across the country.”

Coker noted the likelihood of being involved in this kind of incident is low, but the fact is that the incidents happen more often.

In the early 2010s, Coker became an instructor, and active shooter response is a primary focus for him.

“One of my responsibilities was developing that program, taking it to the next level and making sure we’re prepared, should we be faced with such an incident.”

Shootings as a Patrol Officer Response

Coker said Columbine changed the view of training from a SWAT response to a patrol officer response, because patrol officers are the ones responding directly to the scene of “active killings” and have to “do what they can to stop that killing from happening.”

Students run from Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., on April 20, 1999, after two masked teens on a "suicide mission" stormed the school and blasted fellow students with guns and explosives before turning the weapons on themselves. Mark Leffingwell/AFP/Getty Images

Coker uses the phrase “active killing,” which he said is common nationally, to describe a situation where a perpetrator is killing other people.

“We all have the underlying standard, or the underlying norm, that we have to get in there and stop that killing from happening as soon as possible,” he said.

Coker said he goes coast to coast to learn from other law enforcement in order to bring back those details to Nashville’s training programs.

“What I find is that, just like we all might have a little bit of different accents and we may say things a little bit differently, the umbrella response is that we’re all going to get in there ASAP to save lives.”

Coker said departments use the ALERRT (Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training) program at Texas State University to “train the trainer.”

“They partner with [federal agencies] for a free federally funded program allowing law enforcement across the country to go train and take those standards home,” Coker said.

Comprehensive Approach Alongside EMS, Fire

Coker said in the early 2010s he helped organize the Rescue Task Force program at MNPD, which is an approach also implemented nationally, to include emergency medical service providers and fire department officials in the training and response to active killings.

“That’s where we realized, especially after the incident that happened in Aurora, Colorado, at the Century 16 movie theater shooting, that law enforcement can respond as quickly as possible, but there can still be quite a bit of people injured, laying there needing immediate medical attention,” he said. “What we realized is, this is not a one department problem to solve.”

He said it takes all first responders working together to make sure people are able to survive active shooting incidents.

“I’ve gone to Aurora, Colorado, I’ve gone to the scene, and I’ve gone and spoke to the fire department and the EMS divisions there” Coker explained. “I’ve been to the theater and I’ve sat through their debrief. They are the first to say, ‘don’t get caught in this situation and not have a plan,’ and they’ve been saying that since that horrible day.”

Julia Kouris hugs Steve Sundberg as they visit the memorial setup across the street from the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colo., where a mass shooting took place on July 20, 2012. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Coker said MNPD partnered with the Nashville Fire Department, which in Nashville is under the same umbrella as emergency medical services. They work to respond to the incidents together.

“Law enforcement goes in immediately and starts looking to stop the killing from happening,” he said. “Then we work on stopping the dying, and that’s where our fire department and EMS counterparts are there with us.”

He added he didn’t want to share any critical tactics publicly, but other first responders place trust in law enforcement because they are needed to save lives.

“We have set up protocols in place to get them in as quickly as possible, get them loaded in ambulances and get them to the emergency rooms,” he said. “We’re in the business of trying to stop the dying process, but the only one that can actually do that is the surgeons at the emergency room.”

He said the Aurora incident, where many victims were transported in the back of police vehicles, was a wake up call for fire and EMS to be involved. Typically, EMS makes sure scenes are safe before going in, but EMS and other first responders have stepped up and said although they have done things differently in the past, they recognize active shootings are a unique situation.

“They understand that we have to get in there as quickly as possible to help save lives,” Coker said. “Remember, everybody that’s responding, they’re all sons and daughters, they all have husbands and wives and kids and all that stuff. But at least the officers have an opportunity to have a little bit more tools and a little bit more training to protect themselves.”

He added it’s important to understand the role that non-law-enforcement first responders play in saving lives.

Mourners observe the makeshift memorial at The Covenant School in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville on March 31, four days after six were killed at the school in a shooting. Chase Smith/The Epoch Times

“Understand and show respect for the dedication and devotion that these medics and fire department personnel have that show up with nothing more than their medic bag and trust the partnership with us and realize if they go in to take care of victims and help us save lives, that law enforcement would get them in and out safely.”

Public Education

Coker added it is important for the public to learn about how to survive an active shooter situation as well, should they be found in such a scenario.

“The horrible new norm that we’re forced to deal with these days is not a one person problem, it’s not a one agency problem, and it’s not a one viewpoint problem,” he said. “There’s several of us that all have to work together to make sure that we’re safer in our communities in these situations. We’re not saying this stuff to breed fear, that’s absolutely not it. This is 100 percent a personal safety program.”

An ALERRT website called “Avoid Deny Defend“ can be searched to find the civilian equivalent to the training law enforcement uses to train their own trainers.