What can you do to protect yourself in an active shooter situation? That’s a question on the minds of many Missouri students and staff after the weekend shooting at Brown University. Nicholas Tietsort, a communications consultant for Mizzou, told Missourinet that planning for an emergency starts long before an incident happens.
Nicholas Tietsort, Communications Consultant for the University of Missouri. Photo courtesy from the University of Missouri.
“There’s a video on the MUPD’s website for citizens, response tactics, threats and it talks about those principles of run, hide, fight making sure you know your surroundings and where the exits are,” said Tietsort. “You know where the fire extinguishers and AEDs are.”
Teitsort said if you see something suspicious, report it.
“Just paying attention to people in your area, you know,” said Tietsort. “Make a plan about what you can do in those common areas to protect yourself and others, and when those MU Alerts are sent out, take note of your location and where the location of that alert is so that you can be aware of what the instructions are and what to do properly.”
Tietsort said MUPD undergoes annual training on active threat protocols to stay prepared.
“They also conduct reviews based on, you know, threats and responses and training policies that change,” said Tietsort. “And so, we try to stay on top of it as much as we can and this includes training protocols for both the campus community as well as police response.”
Tietsort’s reminder comes in the wake of the deadly campus shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. On Saturday, December 13th, a gunman opened fire during a review session in a classroom at the Barus and Holley Engineering Building, killing two students and wounding nine others.