The Special Operations Group of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office has been holding seminars since 2018 to teach local residents how to fortify their workplaces and “run, hide, and fight” in the event of a shooting. Tuesday’s meeting at the county emergency services center in Goshen saw the premiere of an active shooter simulation video taped by police at Orange-Ulster BOCES last year.
“You have to pay attention to everything anymore," says Sheriff Pete Arteta. "When you're getting in your car, make sure that you see on both sides of your car. If you're going into a store, just make sure that you know your surroundings. Anywhere you go, you have to know your surroundings and see what’s going on.”
Arteta says the goal isn’t to anger or upset residents, but to help them feel more mentally prepared in the event of a shooting. The nonprofit Gun Violence Archive says more than 35,000 people have died as a result of gun violence so far this year alone, with more than 500 mass shootings scattered throughout the U.S.
Looking at data from the last two decades, Deputy Robert Rabbitt estimates the average shooting event lasts just five minutes. That means civilians have very little time to register what is happening and choose to either get away, hunker down, or fight. To that end, Rabbitt wants residents to practice preparing for the worst, and listen to their gut: be aware of your surroundings, mark your exits when you enter a room, and if there’s a sudden loud sound or shift in the atmosphere? Don’t dismiss or overthink it — leave.
"It’ll be easier getting made fun of in 20 minutes and laugh about it an hour later, because you overreacted, than us mourning you at your funeral because you under reacted," says Rabbitt.
If running away isn’t an option, Rabbitt says the next best move is to hide. Hiding, he notes, doesn’t look like playing dead or crouching underneath a desk. Rather, civilians should lock the door to their room, turn off all the lights, silence their cell phones, and stay out of view of any windows. And that door? There should ideally be a mountain of furniture thrown against it, no matter which way it opens.
“This is everything in the room. This isn’t like, ‘Hey, four desks should do it. One desk should do it.’ If there's 30 pieces of property in that room, all 30 pieces should be stacked in front of that door," instructs Rabbitt. "If they're able to open up that door, we would hope that the suspect isn't going to spend several minutes trying to get through all the desks, cabinets, tables and chairs you put in front of that classroom, and they're gonna keep moving.”
Which brings Rabbitt to his last resort: if the shooter gets through the barricade, he advises civilians to fight.
“We are not fighting fair. We are using improvised weapons, and we are attacking weak spots," he adds. "This sounds really hard to hear in a civilian class, saying, ‘You want me to do whatever it takes?’ Like I told you before: fear is not an option, we move to anger. This is a personal attack, they’re trying to take you away from everything you care about. This isn’t another human being. We are stopping this person from killing me or somebody else I care about, and we’ll do whatever it takes to survive and go home.”
Rabbitt says it takes an average of three minutes for the first police officer to arrive on scene. Arteta explains the department’s first objective at any shooting will always be to neutralize the threat. Then officers will assess any victims, and then they will evacuate the area. He says it’s important for civilians to follow orders, stay where they are, and keep their hands in view once officers have arrived.
This applies even if there turns out not to be a threat. Arteta acknowledge fake threats, or “swatting” incidents, are plaguing schools of late, but it’s still important to take each call seriously.
“We had an actual event in the town of Crawford, in one of those schools, and we responded pretty heartily, and it turned out that we ended up finding the person that made the call, and we rectified the situation," says Arteta. "But it’s like muscle memory. The more we train - and we train a lot - the better we get at it.”
Republican Congressman Mike Lawler of the 17th District recently introduced legislation that would increase the penalty for swatting to up to 20 years in prison.
Rabbitt says most shootings happen in sites of commerce, not schools: workplaces, shopping malls, grocery stores, and community centers. Many at Tuesday’s seminar were representing religious communities and houses of worship. 57-year-old Troy Johnson is a retired New York City corrections officer and bishop at Greater Love Deliverance Center in Walden.
"I thought today's presentation was awesome," he says. "All of the information that I've obtained this evening, I will be passing it on to my congregation."
Rabbitt hopes that by attending the seminar, residents like Johnson will be better equipped to react in a shooting, and lead others if need be.
The Sheriff’s Office offers free risk assessments for Orange County businesses and organizations looking to secure their buildings. Those interested can contact the office at (845) 291-7900.
