Shooter situations can occur here, so prepare, police warn

A day after the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, Honolulu Police Department officials issued a somber reminder to Hawaii residents that such deadly “active shooter” incidents have occurred here before and likely will again.

Lt. Michael Cusumano of the Criminal Intelligence Unit recalled the infamous 1999 mass killing at the Xerox Corp. warehouse on Nimitz Highway, in which employee Byran Uyesugi gunned down seven co-workers.

“We don’t live in a world where he have the luxury of thinking it’s not going to happen here,” Cusumano said. “It’s going to happen. It’s already happened before. It’s not a matter of if, but when.”

The Xerox incident in many ways fit the profile of the “active shooter” phenomenon.

According to Department of Homeland Security statistics, 70 per-cent of such incidents occur at a commercial business or educational institution, and 60 percent end before police arrive. According to Cusumano, most mass shootings are over quickly, most in less than five minutes, some in just half a minute.

Over the last four years, HPD has expanded its training for active-shooter situations to include all police officers, not just those in its Specialized Services Division.

Cusumano said ongoing training based on DHS guidelines and protocols is provided departmentwide and has been incorporated into recruit training.

In addition, HPD provides active-shooter training for schools, hospitals and commercial businesses. More than 200 public schools have received such training in the last two years.

Cusumano emphasized the need for every organization to establish, maintain and communicate among its members an action plan that can be followed in the event of an active-shooter situation. Such a plan should include routes of escape, a designated assembly area, a chain of command, protocols for reporting and a mechanism for accounting for each person.

Should an active-shooter situation arise, Cusumano said people on-site should follow the run-hide-fight hierarchy of responses.

>> Run away to safety if possible.

>> Find an office or classroom in which to hide, then barricade the door with heavy objects. Stay out of sight and silence any electronic devices.

>> If confronted with an imminent threat, be prepared to fight.