EDITH COWAN UNIVERSITY
ACTIVE SHOOTER ADVICE
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Contents
Definitions ....................................................................................................................3
Introduction ..................................................................................................................4
All ECU Staff................................................................................................................5
ESCAPE: ..............................................................................................................6
HIDE: ....................................................................................................................7
ACT: .....................................................................................................................8
Emergency Services ................................................................................................9
What will ECU security staff Do? .................................................................................9
Communicate .......................................................................................................9
Locate................................................................................................................. 10
Appendix 1- Emergency Occupant Warning System ........................................... 11
Active Shooter Script Example ........................................................................... 12
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Definitions
TERM
Active shooter
Emergency
management
Emergency First
Responders
Place of mass gathering
Situational awareness
Mitigation
Rapid deployment
Security Officer
Emergency Occupant
Warning System
Security Operations
Staff
DEFINITION
A person (individual or in a group) armed with a
firearm(s) who is actively engaged in killing or attempting
to cause serious harm to multiple people in a populated
area.
The Plans structures and arrangements that are
established to bring together government, voluntary and
private agencies in a coordinated way to deal with
emergency needs, including prevention, response and
recovery.
All emergency services; Typically Police, Fire and
Ambulance Services.
Areas characterised by having a large concentration of
people on a predictable basis.
The ability to quickly recognise and interpret an event,
make sound decisions based on those interpretations,
whilst at the same time establishing and maintaining
early, effective and continuous lines of communication
between the site and the controlling agency in order to
provide ongoing accurate information about the situation.
Measures taken before, during or after an emergency in
order to decrease or eliminate its impact upon people
and places (e.g. ECU) and the broader community.
The swift and immediate positioning of emergency
services personnel midst an ongoing situation where a
delayed response could result in serious injury or death.
A licensed security officer as defined by the Security and
Related Activities Act and Associated Regulations (WA)
engaged to provide security services to ECU either as an
employee or contractor.
Integrated fire panel warning system allowing for mass or
targeted announcements and instructions from a
centralised location.
Core trained security staff members within Security &
Traffic Services Department at ECU.
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Introduction
The purpose of this document is to provide advice to staff, students and visitors to ECU on the
actions to take in order to minimise the loss of life and serious injury in the event of an active
shooter incident occurring on campus. This paper provides further guidance on what
response actions can be expected from first responder agencies (Police).
This advice is intended to provide direction for immediate actions during an active shooter
incident. It is intended that instructions contained within these guidelines will cease to have
effect when one of the following events occurs:
1. Police take control of the incident;
2. The Critical Incident Management Team (CIMT) take control of the incident; or
3. When the immediate situation is resolved.
An active shooter scenario is similar in some ways to an armed offender incident except in
one very important factor; the active shooter is intending harm to people whereas the armed
offender’s primary goal is typically to deprive others of property.
Active shooter events by their very nature evolve quickly and their sequence of events are
generally unpredictable. This makes it difficult to provide a prescriptive instruction on how to
respond to these types of incidents.
Consequently, any actions taken or omitted should be viewed from a “best effort” perspective.
The very nature of active shooter incidents mean that all relevant details are often unknown
when immediate response is required to save lives.
These Guidelines have been prepared to broadly reflect established practices and advice,
from a range of informed sources including; The NZCTC Active Shooter Guidelines, The FBI
Guide for Developing High Quality Emergency Operations Plans for Higher Education, ASIO
BLU resources and WA Police Active Shooter workshops.
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All ECU Staff
ECU provides one of the safest University environments in Australia, and in the broader WA
context is one of the safest places to be. The possibility of an active shooter incident
materialising on campus is highly unlikely however the consequences of such an incident are
potentially catastrophic. Therefore it is important that staff and students have a general
understanding on how to react should such an event unfold on campus.
The below advice is provided to give direction for actions that can save lives and minimise
harm should an active shooter incident occur.
All ECU staff and students should familiarise themselves of the various exit options when
utilising teaching & learning, communal and office spaces.
ECU staff are to, wherever practicable, take charge of students and members of the public to
ensure that the actions available to them (Evacuate, Hide or Act) are communicated and
followed.
There is no “standard” response to an active shooter incident, primarily due to the random
nature of this type of incident. Nevertheless, established practices and protocols have been
developed, principally in the USA, Australia and Canada that have the potential to minimise
harm. During an active shooter incident, having simple, outlined options available will assist
individuals to make sound decisions when under stress.
The below advice is broad in nature and is based on three fundamental principles;
1. ESCAPE
2. HIDE
3. ACT
All staff are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the following protocols.
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ESCAPE:
If the situation allows for an escape and you can do so without (or with limited) risk of
detection from the shooter, this should be your first course of action. Students and staff, (with
staff providing guidance where practicable) are advised to leave the general vicinity of an
incident as quickly as possible using the cover of buildings and other fixtures where possible.
You are advised to run from the scene, moving as far away as practicable.
When escaping the scene, students and staff should:
Seek cover from gunfire, cover from the view of the offender using;

Substantial brickwork or concrete;

Parked vehicles;

Trunks of large trees;

Embankments; or

Internal partitions, vehicles, walls, fences, curtains. In short, anything that can obscure
your presence from the view of the shooter.
If under immediate gunfire:
Your prime goal is to take cover behind solid objects (such as concrete walls, solid doors and
cars) and look for a safe escape route out of harm’s way.
Nearby gunfire:
Leave the immediate area moving away without putting yourself in danger.
Remember:

Leave behind belongings;

Do not congregate at evacuation points. KEEP MOVING AWAY; and

Keep behind cover.
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IF YOU CAN’T EVACUATE:
HIDE:
In the event that an active shooter situation unfolds in your immediate area and you are
unable to escape the scene, staff and students should:

Secure your immediate area by locking doors and any other vulnerable points.

Keep people out of sight (e.g. public areas such as foyers etc.).

Consider locking and or barricading yourself in a room or secure area (such as a store
room).

Turn off lights in rooms if safe to do so.

Where possible, choose a room where you have the opportunity to escape to another
adjacent space should the need arise.
Move away from the door and remain out of sight and quiet. Stay there until either;

(a) You are told otherwise by someone who is an appropriate authority or
(b) You need to move for safety reasons.

Silence mobile phones and other devices that may identify your presence.

Consider arming yourself with improvised weapons to defend yourself if you are located
by the shooter.
Obey instructions from the Emergency Occupant Warning System if practicable.


As a last resort, you may have to fight in order to save your life and the lives of others.
If the situation gets to this point be prepared to use every option available to you.
This may entail arming yourself with makeshift weapons and acting as a group.
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ACT:
See & tell
The more information that can be passed on to Police or Security Services, the more effective
the response is likely to be. It is important to remember that the objective is to bring any such
incident to a close as quickly as possible with a minimum level of injury and loss of life.
If confronted with an active shooter incident, students and staff should communicate in the
following manner:

Immediately telephone Police on ‘000’.

If safe to do so stay on the line to provide updates to Police.

If you are on the line to Police, have a colleague inform Security ASAP on 3333 so that
campus emergency procedures can be activated.
Use all and any form or channels of communication to inform other staff and students in
your vicinity of what is occurring.

Students and Staff are encouraged to take note of the following key pieces of Information:

Details of firearm/s being used;

Exact location of incident, of if the offender is holed up somewhere i.e. tower/rooftop;

Direction of travel of gunman, if moving;

Number of casualties;

Number and description of offenders;

Motive or intent if known or clearly apparent; and

What else the offender(s) may be carrying.
The most important thing to remember is that no one should risk their lives or put
themselves in danger in an effort to collect such information.
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Emergency Services
Police:
It’s important that students and staff understand that when Police arrive on the scene their
main priority is to bring the incident to a close and to protect lives. This will in all likelihood
mean locating the offender as a priority even if this means by-passing people who need
medical help.
Remember

At first police will be focussed on locating and identifying the shooter.

Police officers may point weapons at you or in your direction.

Avoid quick movements and do not shout. Keep your hands in view.

Promptly follow any instructions given to you by Police.
What will ECU security staff Do?
Actions
Due to the dynamic and unpredictable nature of active shooter incidents, the response of ECU
security's staff will be focussed on the minimisation of harm, isolating the offender and
essentially starving the offender of targets.
In order to minimise harm to the broader ECU community, the ECU Security approach to an
Active Shooter Incident is focussed towards authorisation of measures to minimise harm prior
to the attendance of Emergency First Responders.
The basis of all security staff actions broadly constitutes three aspects of emergency
management:
(1) Communicate;
(2) Locate; and
(3) Isolate.
Communicate
Timely and accurate communication to both ECU stakeholders and Emergency First
Responders is essential to ensure harm is minimised. The communications expectations are
expressed throughout the training and associated work instructions that place a high priority
on gaining situational awareness for Emergency First Responders in the minutes preceding
their attendance.
Despite the risk of causing undue panic (due to false alarms), should any Security Officers or
Security Operations staff become aware of a potential active shooter incident, security staff
are authorised to take action.
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Locate
The immediate response of Security staff is to, where possible preserve life and limit injury
through the successful location of an offender through all available means including CCTV,
access control and reporting from the ECU community.
Isolate
Limiting the movement of people can play a role in minimising harm through the separation of
an offender from potential victims. Throughout these guidelines specific advice is given (based
on role) to maximise this potential of separation. Electronic access control may also be
suitable to provide separation however it should be noted that this also has the potential to
contain an offender with potential victims.
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Appendix 1-
Emergency Occupant Warning System
The Emergency Occupant Warning System (EOWS) is a “best effort” communication mode
that allows for announcements through available fire panel speaker systems.
The EOWS has been installed (where possible) within buildings throughout the three ECU
campuses. This enables emergency messages to be sent from a central location on each
campus, and between the metropolitan campuses. This system will be used by trained
Security staff to notify building occupants should an active shooter be located on campus or
another life threatening incident is taking place.
It should be understood that the use of this system is contingent on the situational awareness
of Security staff. Should security staff be of the belief that a life threatening incident is in
progress that meets the activation criteria, announcements will be made from the preprepared scripts (example below).
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Active Shooter Script Example
Emergency, Emergency This is not a drill
There is an armed incident occurring on campus. You must take action now.
If you can ESCAPE safely, escape now, leave your belongings behind. Listen for specific
instructions on where to go to following this short announcement.
If you are under an immediate threat and cannot Escape, Barricade yourself in a safe place,
locking doors, turning off lights and silence mobile devices.
If you are leaving your building for a safer location, use cover where possible.
Stand by for further instructions
<<siren tone>>>
*** manual, specific instructions from the operator of the system here****
e.g. offender located near building 7, escape to the car park on the western side
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