What to do during an active shooting

What would you do if someone walked into your building and started shooting?

Threat assessment experts say you should consider the situation ahead of time, because a little forethought may save precious seconds and allow you to act when your instinct is to panic.

Every situation is different, but here are the basics, according to law enforcement agencies such as the FBI and other organizations that teach survival skills.

The first — and best — option is to get out if you can. People have been shot a few steps from an exit door because they froze in place, said Scott Zimmerman, CEO of K17 Security, a Washington-area personal protection company. Leave belongings behind and encourage others to go with you, but don’t let their indecision slow you.

If you can’t immediately leave, you want to buy time — time to plan another way out, time to figure out what you’ll do if the shooter approaches, time for law enforcement to arrive. Put whatever obstacles you can between you and the shooter. You want to make your immediate area appear to be unoccupied and difficult to access.

Attempt to counter the attack, something you should do only if you have no other choice. People have stopped shooters by attacking them, but people have also been killed trying to stop an attack. Different situations call for different strategies, but all turn the element of surprise against the shooter.

Some preparation and familiarity with the places where you spend a lot of time will serve you well in many kinds of emergencies. The experts interviewed for this story had these tips:

Recommendations in this story are compiled from an in-person training course by Scott Zimmerman of K17 Security; ALICE Training; “Run. Hide. Fight.” by Ready Houston and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and the FBI.

This story originally was published in 2016 and has been updated.