In light of headline-grabbing mass shootings, USCPD's Major T.J. Geary worked directly with members of the campus community Thursday to help them learn how to respond to an active shooter situation.
The workshop, titled "Community Response to an Active Shooter," utilized information from past mass shootings, such as the Columbine school shooting, to teach what to do and what not to do if faced with an active shooter situation.
Geary went over information about everything from the psychology of shooters to how they often pick targets.
For graduate student Reece Funderburk, one piece of data was particularly striking.
"I was kind of shocked about the average age of a school shooter being 14," Funderburk said.
Geary taught attendees the "ADD" system, which tells those under lockdown to "avoid" suspects, "deny" suspects entry and "defend" themselves using whatever means necessary.
He referenced the 2015 shooting in the Arnold School of Public Health that left a professor dead on campus and asked how participants would assess that threat if they had been in the neighboring School of Music.
"That threat would be very high," he said. "You are basically in the same danger as the people at Public Health are because within 30 seconds that problem could be yours."
Geary encouraged attendees to develop a "Personal Protection Plan" that includes what you're going to do while you wait for the police to arrive and plans to exit a dangerous area.
Thursday's lessons hit home for attendees like Funderburk. As a graduate student, he teaches a few courses on campus, and after the workshop he says he'll incorporate those lessons in his classes.
"I would show a couple of the resources on the website the first day ... and try and have my students get a little bit into that mindset," Funderburk said.