Debrief – Active Shooter at YouTube HQ

Yesterday, a woman named Nasim Najafi Aghdam shot three people at the YouTube headquarters in Bruno, California. After shooting the workplace, she shot and killed herself, according to police. The investigation is still underway as YouTube and parent company Google work with authorities; so far, it is believed Aghdam was motivated to commit this act because felt the social media company ‘was ruining her life’.

The need for active shooter training has never been more pressing than it is today, and AEGIS Security & Investigations can help.

Workplace active shooter situations have steadily risen since the start of the millennium, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and are projected to continue to increase. Also of note, the 2017 Everbridge Emergency Management and Safety (EMS) Solutions Active Shooter Preparedness Research Report found that while companies view active shooter situations to be a major concern, they are still not tackling the problem.

According to the report, an active shooter incident was a top potential threat to the workplace for nearly 70 percent of employee respondents. Coming in at a near-second was workplace violence. Executives and organization leaders reported being more concerned about the safety of employees or students than they had been two years ago. A shocking 79 percent of respondents believed their organizations were not adequately capable of handling an active shooter situation. This is why employees and organizations as a whole need to arm themselves with knowledge about protecting themselves in the event of workplace violence or an active shooter.

You can learn how to protect yourself, your loved ones and your business by enrolling in terrorism and workplace violence awareness training such as those offered by AEGIS Security & Investigations.

AEGIS Security & Investigations offers active shooter training programs designed for people at all levels within an organization. These trainings are the first step in understanding your personal and organizational capabilities to prevent and responsd to a violent workplace incident. Taking the steps to become better prepared in hostile situations cannot only save your life but help save the lives of those around you.

The civilian active shooter training provided by AEGIS is intended to build on “run, hide, fight,” the long-standing method of saving yourself in these events. Workshops run from an hour to several hours dependent on the needs of the organization and individuals. Our most highly sought after workplace violence training program is our one-hour plus add-on Run, Hide, Fight Live Fire Demo. Participants begin with a lecture and basic training on how to handle the situation and are then exposed to sample scenarios in which they practice those same skills. The effectiveness of this scenario can be viewed on CBS here.

In the meantime, here are the steps you should memorize should you encounter an active shooter situation at work or anywhere else. Teach run, hide, fight to your co-workers, friends and children.

As soon as you realize are in an active shooter incident, be prepared to run, hide, and fight. Put yourself into a mindset that keeps you calm yet reactive. Your first instinct should be to run away from the situation. Once you can confirm you are safe, locate or call police officers or local security.

If running is not possible, find a hiding place. This can be the nearest space in which you can lock and/or barricade the door and take cover behind dense objects. If there is no room or space readily available, hide behind or under a large dense objects, or a dark space that would be difficult in which to identify a target for a shooter. Keep in mind that if you are hiding, you may need to move to a new space is the threat gets closer and that you may also end up fighting. Wherever you are, fashion yourself an improvised weapon with which to fight.

If you must engage in a fight with an active shooter, you have three key goals: defend yourself, incapacitate the perpetrator, and secure his/her weapon as quickly as possible. Heavy objects from your surroundings that can be thrown at or bashed into the perpetrator are ideal weapons. If there are others with you, work as a team.

Remember, your safety is primary in an active shooter situation.

Talk to your employer today about securing training for your workplace.

AEGIS Security & Investigations is a Los Angeles based security firm that is licensed and insured to provide high-end armed and unarmed regular and temporary off-duty police officers, bodyguards, security officers, loss prevention agents, and hostile termination support. Additionally, we offer private investigation, consultation, skip tracing, and background investigation services. Our security training and active shooter workshops have been featured in news media and are renowned for their effectiveness and transparency. For more information or to contact us, visit www.aegis.com.

Author: Chelsea Turner & Jeff Zisner