Richmond, Virginia –
Defense Logistics Agency Installation Support at Richmond’s Security and Emergency Services Office held Active Shooter Awareness and Response Training at Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia, June 23 in the Frank B. Lotts Conference Center.
The training is part of an ongoing awareness program that helps to educate employees on a variety of security issues.
Richard Milligan, deputy chief of the SES Office, provided opening remarks. He said in light of recent world events, it is important to train for the active shooter scenario as it can happen anywhere.
Russell Pitts, anti-terrorism officer, and Don Bartlett, criminal intelligence analyst in the SES office tag teamed the training, leading employees through recent case studies, characteristics of an active shooter, pre-attack indicators and how to respond to an active shooter.
Pitts reviewed characteristics and pre-attack indicators for attendees and also showed the Run, Hide, Fight: Surviving an Active Shooter Event video.
Bartlett said one of the pieces of intelligence he gathered after the 2016 Pulse Night Club Terrorist Attack in Orlando, Florida, was that there was no evidence of anyone fighting to survive.
“If you cannot run or hide, you have to be prepared and committed to fighting to advance your chances of survival,” said Bartlett. “Terrorists and active shooters have a mindset of destruction and statistics show that 49 percent of active shooters also commit suicide during the event.” He went on to say that it is important to know that active shooters typically do not target areas where people are likely to fight back, do not typically take hostages and typically do not spend much time trying to breach locked or barricaded areas.
Bartlett said one of the first things employee need to do is overcome denial. “If you hear gunfire, don’t rationalize what is happening, take action and ask questions later,” he said.
DSCR supervisors interested in fine-tuning active shooter response plans and procedures in their work areas may contact Bartlett at donald.bartlett@dla.mil, 804-279-3385 or Pitts at russell.pitts@dla.mil, 804-279-4087.