Students gain knowledge in dealing with campus shooters

By Hannah Sparling, BG News

About 30 people trudged through the snow and slush yesterday to learn how to best stay safe in the event of a campus shooting.

Most were members of the Graduate Student Enhancement Program at the University, and they were attending a training event called “Shots Fired.”

The majority of the training was done with a video, but before pressing play, Director of Public Safety James Wiegand asked those in attendance an important question.

“If today I walked in the door here and started shooting, what would you do?” Wiegand asked the crowd. “By the end of this video you will have a mindset of what it takes to survive in that type of situation.”

In the video, narrators outlined a plan for those in shooting situations to stay as safe as possible: get out, hide out, take out.

The first and best option, a narrator said, is to simply get away from the shooter. If that doesn’t work, hide. And if hiding isn’t an option, the shooter has to be confronted.

Narrators told viewers the best preparation is simply to have the right mindset. Having a plan ready, knowing where the exits are and not waiting for someone else to take action are some of the best ways to survive, they said.

After the video, Wiegand talked about police training, what officers will do and how others should respond. He stressed the importance of remaining calm when officers arrive.

Police have no idea when they first arrive who is and who is not a threat, he said. Let police know you are not by calmly raising your arms and spreading your fingers.

“There is no profile of a shooter,” Wiegand said. “We know that anyone could be involved in this type of situation.”

Practical ideas of how to prepare for and handle a shooter situation at the University were also discussed after the video. Having an escape plan ready, looking for warning signs and signing up for the BG Alert system were options discussed.

“Really we all have a role in making the campus a safer place,” said Kim Miller, risk management director at the University. “We’re really just trying to build a culture of preparedness if, God forbid, this should happen at BGSU.”

Third year graduate student Jeremy Schnieder said he thought the training was very helpful. He said the most important idea he took away from the video was simply to take an active role instead of waiting or letting the shooter take charge.

Schnieder said the video gave him new ideas and, rather than scaring him, made him feel more prepared.

“I wouldn’t say I’m scared,” he said. “It’s uncomfortable that we have to think about it, but I’m not frightened that it’s going to happen.”

GradSTEP director Barb Peck, who organized the event, said overall she thought the it went very well. Even though only about 30 of the original 70 who signed up made it, she said, taking the weather into account, the turnout was pretty good.

Peck said she thought the video provided a good place for people to start making their own plans for safety. She said what people do with the training is personal and an individual choice, but the training can help them get started.

“With the info that’s provided here, it gives everyone the same starting point,” she said.