FBI Houses of Worship Event

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At 2:00 Sunday morning, June 12th, 2016, an Arabic man entered the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida and began shooting with an A/R. 49 people died and over 50 were injured.

In his final shooting outbreaks, the killer used a handgun instead of his A/R. He had taken hostages into a restroom close to where authorities eventually broke through an outside wall and killed him.

When the FBI investigated his cell phone later, they discovered his final moments in that restroom was doing google searches on “how to clear a malfunctioning A/R.”

This case had little to do with faith-based properties except for 2 main things.

  1. Attacks on mass gatherings of people are increasing worldwide. Some are still with firearms, but we are also seeing vehicles, explosives and knives used.
  2. The Orlando Nightclub killer was still the old-school of mass shooters. They didn’t know their weapons well. While it will never be all, an increasing number of killers are getting trained and using body armor, body-worn cameras & better equipment.

These points by the FBI were revealed among many other points by more speakers at the “FBI Houses of Worship” day training held at NRG Stadium in Houston. Over 600 attendees from many faiths attended. 5 of us from the FBSN were honored to have presentation roles there.

I will share a few more nuggets of information caught through the day, applicable to faith-based security operations.

The Santa Fe High School killer (May, 2018) had entered the school many times before wearing a black trench coat. He didn’t look out of normal that day.

Myth 1: We can make our site impenetrable. TRUTH: No, you can’t.

Myth 2: There is nothing we can do about it. TRUTH: Yes, there is.

At Sandy Hook, the glass doors had ballistic film. The glass next to them (that the killer shot out to enter) did not.

For the next 2 weeks plan (by visualization training) for an active shooter everywhere you go. See the bad guy, picture your response.

Your plan won’t be perfect. No plan survives first contact with the enemy.

The FBI believes in and uses the DSM banner (www.DSMSafety.com)

88%-90% of people shot with a handgun survive.

 

Think About it

A security conference can give you many points applicable to your operations – if you can catch them.

Study to show yourself approved. Attend conferences on faith-based security.

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