On May 25, 2018, Jason Seaman arrived at work to teach science to his middle school students at Noblesville West Middle School in Indiana. During the school day, a student came back from the bathroom with two handguns and opened fire, striking both Seaman and a classmate. Seaman disarmed the student by throwing a small basketball that he usually holds while he teaches.
On February 27, 2012, two teachers at Chardon High School in Ohio also faced an active shooter situation. After the shooter opened fire in a crowded cafeteria, football coach Frank Hall chased the fleeing assailant out of the building, where he was subsequently captured. Math teacher Joseph Ricci immediately barricaded his students in the classroom at the sound of the gunfire. He donned a bulletproof vest and left his room, returning a short time later with one of the shooting victims to whom he was able to provide first aid until first responder arrived.
As these incidents demonstrate, teachers are often the first line of defense during a school shooting. A school shooting incident lasts an average of 19 minutes, with the first ten minutes being the deadliest. It takes an average of three minutes for law enforcement to respond to the scene, and 66% of active shooter incidents are over by the time police arrive.
Tragically, gun violence has become commonplace in schools. According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, there were 330 school shooting incidents in the United States in 2024—the second highest number after 2023, which saw 349. With the rate of school shootings increasing every year, teachers and staff must be adequately trained to keep themselves and their students safe in such an emergency.
The following guidance can help school districts, school administrators and universities assess and improve active shooter training to make campuses safer.
Gaps in Active Shooter Training
Many schools across the United States have significant training deficiencies. In a 2024 research article by ProPublica in partnership with PBS and the Texas Tribune, 13 states do not require active shooter training in schools. Two of those states—Colorado and Connecticut—experienced mass shootings that were among the deadliest in U.S. history. Many states only require one drill per year, while states like Minnesota and Nevada mandate five to six per school year.
The training gap does not end with schools—the police face challenges as well. After the failures of police during the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, a federal report suggested that officers receive at least eight hours of active shooter training. Training deficiency begins at the academy. Five states—California, Georgia, Ohio, Washington, and Vermont—do not require active shooter training of all its police recruits. Only two states—Texas and Michigan—have laws that require active shooter training for police officers, and in some states, active shooter training is only required for school officers. In the absence of state requirements, many schools opt out of active shooter training entirely.
Considering Cost-Effective Training Programs
Cost can be a deterrent for many schools when it comes to active shooter preparedness training for teachers and other school staff. However, many active shooter training programs are free and a number of grants are available to help cover any associated expenses. Many programs have a train-the-trainer component, allowing those who complete that program to train other members of their organization. Most of the training can be done online or incorporated into teachers’ workdays.
Training programs are available to school districts with various budgets, including:
- ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate): Started in 2000, this program offers training in a variety of formats, including e-learning and on-site training with instructors. It also provides a two-day train-the-trainer course so individuals can train other employees within their organization. Hosting a training course requires speaking with an ALICE consultant or attending an already scheduled training for $749.
- Run, Hide, Fight: The federal government has adopted this program as the national standard for civilian response to an active shooter incident. There are several ways to attend this training, most of which are free. The FBI hosts a two-hour Active Shooter Attack Prevention and Preparedness (ASAPP) course using the “Run, Hide, Fight” protocol. Attendees participate in a live multimedia presentation with in-person scenarios. Experienced instructors teach the course, and no real or fake weapons are used. Class sizes are limited to 40 people, and you must sign up through your local FBI field office. The FBI also has resources on its website, ranging from videos to reports to provide more information.
Another option is to look at organizations within your state offering the training. For instance, Run, Hide, Fight is provided online in Indiana through the Indiana University of Public Safety. In Oklahoma, organizations and individuals can sign up to have this course taught in person by state troopers. The ALERRT Center at Texas State University also offers CRASE (Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events). This four-hour train-the-trainer course for local and state law enforcement is provided at no cost.
- I Love You Guys Foundation: This program provides crisis response and reunification programs and has been used in over 50,000 schools and organizations. The foundation seeks to standardize the vocabulary so teachers, law enforcement and other stakeholders can respond quickly to an event using the same terminology and recommends five specific actions followed by a directive: hold, secure, lockdown, evacuate and shelter.
Avoiding Unnecessary Infliction of Trauma
Another key concern around active shooter training is that it can inflict unnecessary emotional trauma on staff and students. Active shooter drills should not be performed the same way at the high school level as at the elementary level. Organizations such as the Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund lead state-wide efforts to ensure students do not have to participate as part of their school safety exercises, as many active shooter drills have become live-action simulations and could be extremely traumatic for elementary school children. Some schools use non-threatening language during drills to reduce any trauma and the tone is instructional rather than fear-inducing. Many schools have mental health professionals on staff who can help teachers deal with any possible trauma from the training.
However, active shooter training should focus less on students and more on the teachers, as they are the front line of defense. As students will look to their teachers for guidance in such a high-stress situation, instructing teachers to deal with an active shooter is a key component of emergency preparedness.
Even with focusing the training on teachers, reducing emotional trauma remains a concern. There is an argument in favor of training being realistic, but to what extent? For example, in 2019, a sheriff’s department in Indiana clearly took it too far when they shot teachers with plastic bullets that caused welts and bruises.
However, some teachers have expressed a desire for training that involves simulated gunfire. In those instances, teachers should be informed of everything they might encounter before the training begins. Teachers uncomfortable with this should be allowed to opt out. This discussion should be addressed at the district level.
Tabletop exercises are another training option that can help reduce trauma and allow scenario-based discussions to occur in a non-stressful environment to facilitate participant questions and concerns about what to do during a shooting, including when to fight and how to escape.
Creating a Behavioral Assessment Team
In 2024, the U.S. Secret Service released a report that analyzed 41 cases of school violence that occurred between 2008 to 2017 and found that school shooters consistently showed warning signs and that the tragedies could have been prevented. While there is no set profile of a school shooter, teachers can be alert for the possible warning signs. This report was created to help school districts and law enforcement take proactive measures to prevent school shootings before they happen. One of the suggestions was to develop a behavioral threat assessment team comprising law enforcement, school administrators, teachers and mental health staff.
There are multiple resources online to help school districts create a behavioral assessment team. Organizations such as the Texas School Safety Center at Texas State University and the National Center for School Safety have tool kits and step-by-step instructions for selecting and training your team. The threat assessment is not a simple checklist to find the next shooter; rather, it is a fact-based investigative approach to identify a person who has the potential for violence.
The Secret Service report pointed out that school shootings are almost always planned acts, not impulsive ones. Most school shooters are victims of bullying, experience stress at home, show signs of depression, have poor grades and attendance, and engage in fights at school. For example, the shooter who killed four and injured seven at Oxford High School in Michigan in 2021 drew pictures of guns on his math homework with troubling messages like “My life is useless” and “Blood Everywhere.” Similarly, police had at least 15 contacts with the Columbine shooters over two years and missed glaring warning signs. In general, law enforcement and school districts can benefit from a more proactive approach to identifying violent behavior, which begins with a threat assessment team.
Training teachers for an active shooter situation is not something anyone wants to think about, but given the seriousness of the risk, teachers need to be prepared if and when a shooting occurs. Schools should conduct monthly active shooter training sessions that shift the focus from students to emphasis to teachers. Understandably, not every teacher is going to be willing or able to brave gunfire. However, through proper and continuous training, teachers can manage their emotions and be more confident in these situations, allowing them to make quick decisions that could save their lives and the lives of their students.