“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” a staff member mumbled. “Who thought it would get to a point where I would have to learn how to defend my kids from a shooter?”

Anxious whispers filled Mercy College’s Rotunda while the students and staff waited for the presentation to begin. Lee Struble, an emergency consultant and president of WSM Trainers and Consultants, stood in front of the Mercy community to discuss active shooter and threat training on Feb. 28.

“Each new event that occurs defines us, challenges us, and provides us with a new opportunity to educate,” described Struble.

It is time to adapt the ‘Run, Hide, Fight’ model that is traditionally taught when discussing an active shooter threat, according to Struble.

“We need to take lessons [learned from other incidents] and apply them to that method,” he added.

In the event of an active shooter threat, everyone’s number one priority is to get out and find somewhere safe.

“You’re responsible for your own safety, and then once you’re ready, you help others,” Struble said. “Make sure to use your instincts.”

One of the several scenarios that Struble reviewed was an event in which someone is trapped in the same vicinity with the shooter, and while there’s no definite answer, he provided some possible outcomes.

Some of his suggestions included staying still to give the appearance that you are dead, running for the exit in a zigzagging pattern to confuse the shooter, or even attacking the shooter.

He highlighted that an individual who is faced with an active shooter threat or emergency situation may experience hyperventilation, an accelerated heart rate, loss of peripheral vision, and diminished hearing.

“You need to imagine the unimaginable,” he mentioned. “Because that’s where we’re at.”

He touched upon various incidents that have happened across the country, including the incidents at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999 and at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012.

Struble also talked about one of the most recent incidents, the shooting at Parkland. He described how the shooter pulled the fire alarm to get the faculty and staff to evacuate the classrooms.

“That fire alarm was a drill we were taught, but we weren’t taught what to do if it was a trap,” said Struble.

He emphasized the concept of “reverse evacuation” where individuals are trained to see danger, instead of putting themselves in a situation where they run into the threat.

“Developing a strategic and survival mindset is important,” he mentioned. “When you go back to your room, think about what might happen, and then think about what you would do.”

Jane King, a Mercy College PACT Mentor, attended the seminar to educate herself, but also to learn about what kind of steps Mercy is taking towards a safer campus.

“In light of Parkland, I want to be prepared for the reality of this,” said King. “At this point, sometimes I feel that it’s not if it will happen, but when.”

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“Everyone knows that quote, ‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,’ but no one knows the entire quote,” Struble explained.

“The ending goes, ‘it was just like we planned it. It was just like a drill.”

One of Struble’s priorities, besides educating the college community, is creating an emergency plan for Mercy College which will include threat assessment, routine drills, and instilling an immediate notification system.

“It is important to interact with your students,” Struble expressed. “Get to know them and talk about their home life.”

He emphasized that the decline in student and professor relationships is the first thing that needs to change regarding the threat assessment. And while there is no profile of an active shooter, there are signs that both students and faculty should be aware of.

There is a four-pronged assessment approach that Struble deems effective. Prong one is assessing the personality of the student. Prong two is assessing their family dynamics. Prong three includes assessing the student’s school dynamics, and prong four is assessing their social dynamics.

Sudden behavioral and physical changes, such as a student withdrawing from activities or drastically changing their wardrobe overnight, are key signs that a student may be a threat to themselves or others.

“School shootings are rarely impulsive,” Struble emphasized. “If you see something, say something, but also do something.”

According to his presentation, 93 percent of incidents were planned attacks. In 81 percent of the cases, the shooter told at least one person prior to the shooting, and 66 percent of the time more than one person had knowledge prior to the incident.

While 75 percent of the motive for a school shooting is that the individual has felt bullied or threatened by others, and 61 percent of the motive is for revenge, sometimes the shootings  occur because of a failed relationship, explained Struble.

Some personality traits and behaviors mentioned by Struble, that may lead to violence include, but are not limited to, a low tolerance for frustration, poor coping skills, and failed love relationships.

“All of these active shooters do have in common the facts that they plan, somebody always knows about the situation, and they never stop until they are stopped,” he said.

Any suspicious student or activity can be reported to the Mercy CARE (Concern-Assessment-Response-Evaluation) where the threat will be thoroughly examined.

“Lockdown drills stop in college. Why?” Struble asked the crowd.

Lockdown drills are means of practicing preparedness in the event that there is a threat or an intruder, and is something that is practiced in K-12 educational settings and rarely seen in higher education facilities.

“It takes about three or four years to change a campus’ culture,” Struble mentioned. “People don’t buy fire systems and hope there’s a fire, but we still need to prepare for them.”

A key part to being prepared for an active threat is making sure that everyone knows where to go and what to do. Typically, in the event of an emergency, students look at their teachers and professors for guidance.

Participating in lockdown drills is a sufficient way to get everyone involved in the emergency plan.   

“Students tend to find out on social media that there’s an event going on before they are notified from the school. And that is something we need to change,” said Struble.

Mercy will be updating their immediate notification system, Mercy Alert, to create clear communication during emergencies as a crucial part of Struble’s plan.

In the wake of the school shooting in Parkland that left 17 people dead and another 17 injured, the conversation has since been focused on all that can be done in order to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. But when will the conversation stop and the action begin?

The New Yorkers Against Gun Violence association has begun the trek in the right direction by taking the problem to the streets. On March 24, the NYAGV partnered with the March for Our Lives movement and called upon the citizens throughout New York to use their voices to force the change that they wish to see.

Since 1993, NYAGV has been vocal in the constant uphill battle for gun safety and gun safety legislation and was partially responsible for the passage of the New York Safe Act in 2013.

While the act was met with opposition almost instantly, its intent has stayed true and improved the state of New York for the better.

“NYAGV remains at the forefront of not only defending the law, but also seeking to strengthen it. New York is now ranked third in the nation in gun safety and it is because of those strong gun laws,” Paul May, Board President of the NYAGV, explained.

The work of activism groups such as the NYAGV has not gone unnoticed but there is also more to be done, they say. The state of New York is famous for its toughness on gun laws and safety, however that does not stop citizens from other states with weaker gun laws from trafficking weapons in. 

May offered one of many solutions to this crisis.

“We should not be forced to allow citizens of other states to bring their concealed weapons into NYS if they cannot or do not meet New York’s standards. This would reduce our handgun laws to the lowest common denominator of other states’ laws.”

Following each of the tragic mass shootings at Columbine, Sandy Hook and Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, the NYAGV was forced to reassess their efforts and approach the problem from a different angle. Instead of focusing solely on the mental health and motive of the shooter, they turned to their local government representatives in hopes that the rising number of mass shootings in the United States would motivate them to place stricter sanctions on guns overall. While school shootings are constantly at the forefront of hearts and minds, activists state there is a bigger picture that needs to be considered as well.

On average, 93 Americans die every day at the hands of gun violence, including eight children under the age of 19.

Organizations such as the NRA and other gun rights activists usually point the finger at the mentally ill for being the reason behind mass shootings while critics disagree. If mentally ill parties are involved, they are then times more likely to be the targets of the mass shootings instead of the 4 percent of occurrences where mental health is a major component of the motive.

“The problem is easy access to guns by too many who should never have such access, and until Congress determines to do something significant to address the issue, gun deaths will continue to rise,” May said frankly.

In addition to this, there have been debates about the interpretation of the 2nd Amendment from the founding of the United States until 2008. In 2008, during the case of Washington D.C. v. Heller, the Supreme Court ruled that individuals are legally permitted to own guns. However, the Court also ruled the right was not an unlimited right, that local and state governments had the right to make reasonable laws as well. Because of this ruling, other federal courts were able to uphold state laws such as the NY Safe Act in New York as well as laws in other states such as Connecticut and Maryland.

Students from Stoneman Douglas High School have started a wave of activism that expands far beyond the 31,507 people who reside in Parkland. There have been marches, school walkouts, and constant outpouring of support as the words “Never Again” are chanted over and over again. Students around the country are encouraged to get involved in their local organizations such as NYAGV in the fight for gun control. 

In the 2016 Presidential election, only about 40 percent of those under the age of 25 who were registered to vote actually cast ballots, and a much larger percentage of eligible young people did not register to vote.

But starting with the Stoneman Douglas High School students, this may soon change.

“This generation wields the power to change the culture of mass shootings and other gun deaths that victimize them by demanding action, and giving elected officials a reason to finally stop bowing to the gun lobby and instead respond to their constituents who demand sensible gun policies. These young people are determined to succeed and will vote out anyone who stands in their way,” May wrote in a press release.

May lent his opinion about the state of the country currently, saying, “Sometimes it may be hard to believe, but we are a participatory democracy – and we have to stand up and speak out for what we want and what we expect our government to do for us. And the most fundamental obligation of the government is to protect its citizens.