Active shooter response for Joliet first responders focus of conference

Today, the largest number of mass shootings take place in open and public areas.

Due to their nature, public spaces and gathering places are among the hardest for staff and first responders to secure in the event of an active shooter incident, said James Blake, Battalion Chief of Operations with the Joliet Fire Department.

Businesses also are becoming targets as witnessed by the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, in October and the grocery store that was targeted in Buffalo, New York, in 2022 and the Allen, Texas, mall mass shooting earlier this year.

“We aren’t able to secure businesses similarly to schools and private businesses,” Blake said. “You can’t limit access, because you can’t limit your customers.”

The number one thing businesses can do to protect their employees and customers is to “slow the active shooter by locking down any interior entries,” Blake said. “The more we can slow the shooter down, the sooner first responders can arrive to end the incident.”

He added that although some of the specifics of dealing with an active shooter incident and its aftermath can be difficult to talk about, “we must talk about it.”

“If there is a fire, I can see I need this many hoses based on the size of the fire. It is second nature to us,” Blake said, “However, I am not an expert on active shooter training because we haven’t been on the other end of one of these.”

To date there have been 584 mass shootings in 43 different states in 2023, according to Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that documents incidents of gun violence and gun crime.

In Joliet, starting Sunday and running through Wednesday, first responders, including police, fire, dispatchers, emergency management, as well as corporate security directors, school administers, and hospital security teams from across the country will meet to learn how to best prepare local entities in the event of an incident.

The conference is being called the Active Shooter and Mental Wellness Conference.

Hosted by the Joliet Fire Department, the Joliet Police Department, Joliet 911 and in partnership with Joliet Township and Thriveworks, the conference aims to train everyone from the dispatcher at the outset of an active shooter incident to a recovery program following an incident, Blake said.

“We want to help them to learn what we can do so something like this won’t happen here,” he said.

Joliet entities have previously extensively trained on the process of how first responders enter an active shooting situation, Blake said.

This led to shortening the response time for both police entering a situation and firefighters treating the wounded.

“We are trying to save as many people as possible in a coordinated effort between police, dispatch, and fire,” Blake said. “The only way to do this is to train together so you are ready when the time comes.”

The conference also aims to provide guidance to “look at what went wrong and what we did to fix it,” said Jason Fitzwater, who began N&T Training Solutions, the organizer of the conference, about five years ago. At one time, the company primarily focused on firearms range training.

Sheriff Michael Neal is an owner of N& T Training Solutions.

Now, it works to bring the stories of law enforcement officials who experienced an active shooter event to other first responders, school administrators and teachers, and business security teams.

“We knew we needed to do whatever we could from our side to provide training from the perspective of guys who have been there done that,” Fitzwater said. “We are also bringing in the mental health aspect for first responders.”

At the conference, retired detective Raul Rivas, a 27-year veteran with the Orlando, Florida, Police Department, will present a firsthand account of the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016 where 49 people were shot to death and 53 were injured.

He stressed it is important for local businesses to not be complacent and think it couldn’t happen in “small town USA.”

Citing the recent incident in Lewiston, he said, “We must prepare for when.”

Randomness of shootings

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security most cases, active shooters use firearms and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims.

It states that “active shooter situations are unpredictable and evolve quickly. Typically, the immediate deployment of law enforcement is required to stop the shooting and mitigate harm to victims.”

Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security advises that since “active shooter situations are often over within 15 minutes, individuals must be prepared both mentally and physically to deal with an active shooter situation. Good practices for coping with an active shooter situation include being aware of your environment and any possible dangers and take note of the two nearest exits in any facility.”

It also suggests the individuals involved in an active shooter incident “if you are in an office, stay there and secure the door, if you are in a hallway, get into a room and secure the door. As a last resort, attempt to take the active shooter down. When the shooter is at close range and you cannot flee, your chance of survival is much greater if you try to incapacitate him/her.”