Another campus attack involving a knife demonstrates that multiple victim knife attacks do occur. In the latest attack in a Houston high school, one student was killed and three injured by a knife wielding aggressor.  I have personally worked two multiple victim knife attacks when I was a school district police chief, one in an elementary school and one in an alternative school.  These attacks were thankfully not fatal but they were pretty bloody incidents.  One incident involved a little girl armed with a butcher knife.  I have seen this dynamic repeatedly working as a school security expert not only here in the U.S. but in Asia and other parts of the world as well.

We constantly discuss this in our school security assessments and in our school security keynote presentations.  The research by our school security experts has found that mass casualty edged weapons attacks are more common in countries with harsh penalties for possession of a firearm like Japan and the People’s Republic of China.  Keeping in mind that offenders use a wide array of weapons to attack people in schools can help remind us that school security measures need to address not only school shootings, but the range of school security incidents that do not involve guns.  Our team of school security experts all types of weapons assaults should be considered in school security efforts.

Dekalb County Police Officers are reporting that one man is in custody after brandishing a gun at McNair Elementary School in Decatur, Georgia.  It is unclear at this time if any shots were fired but school officials are now indicating that no students have been injured.  The incident was initially reported as an active shooter incident based on a statement by a school board member.  Our school security experts regularly work school weapons incidents and are concerned that people have become conditioned to think of active shooter incidents as the most common school security incidents when they are in fact rare events. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency recently released a new free online training program titled IS-360: Preparing for Mass Casualty Incidents: A Guide for Schools, Higher Education, and Houses of Worship.  Part of the 2013 White House School Safety Initiative, the course focuses on mass casualty events such as active shooter situations.  The course is offered to focus on three unique areas: K12 schools, Institutions of higher learning and places of worship. The courses were developed in response to the deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School and other incidents.

Safe Havens personnel Michael Dorn, Steve Satterly, Chris Dorn, Dr. Sonayia Shepherd, Phuong Nguyen and Gregory Thomas helped write the content for this series of courses.  The courses are designed for those who want to learn more about preventing, preparing for, responding and recovering from active shooter situations.