If you did not hear about the terrible shooting at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, 2 parishioners were shot to their death during Sunday morning’s service. The church’s volunteer security team then fatally shot the gunman within six seconds, preventing additional casualties. All of us here at Richey-Barrett Insurance offer our warmest condolences to everybody involved in the shooting, their families, and the White Settlement community.

While it is terribly unfortunate that we have to even have this conversation about active shooters and firearms policies in any public place, let alone in a church, this particular shooting was one of the first of its kind since Texas legislature legalized concealed carry laws in places of worship (unless expressly prohibited by the institution). This law came in response to the Sutherland Springs church massacre in 2017. As part of the volunteer, trained security team within the West Freeway Church of Christ church, two armed parishioners drew their own guns and eliminated the potential for any more catastrophe in what will surely be a precedential shooting for future state legislatures to consider. Continue reading to learn about what you should do to help prepare for a catastrophe and what you should do during the event of an active shooting.

To help prepare for a catastrophe in your church, you may consider these three suggestions:

1. Create an in-house, volunteer, trained security team. Your volunteers can be sent to a training center or conference, you can have someone come onsite to train your volunteers, or your volunteers can be trained online.

2. Hire only trained professionals. This can include professionally trained and equipped security agencies or off-duty law enforcement officers.

3.  Never allow guns on church property. Retaining a gun on church property is a bad idea because it creates the potential for accidents, excessive use of force, and confusion when the police arrive in the event of a threat or actual shooting.

During the event of an active shooting, you probably will not have the consciousness to think about ALICE; but by using ALICE to prepare for the worst, it can make the behaviors listed below natural in the event of an active shooting. ALICE stands for:

A=ALERT

Be aware of people and surroundings and observe the physical building and rooms. Take note of the windows (do they open?), number and location of doors for possible exit options, and proximity to the fire pull(s).

L=LOCKDOWN

If it is unsafe to leave the area you are in, what do you do? What you don’t do is sit in a corner and wait for the armed person(s) to come in and start shooting. Be proactive. Try to prevent entry into the room by using whatever items are readily available to secure the room. Barricade the door with tables, chairs, cabinets, or anything reasonably possible to slow down an intruder. Consider escaping out the window, even breaking it if necessary.

I=INFORM

Clear and calm communication is most effective in protecting building occupants. Plain English, rather than coded messages, is the recommended style of communication. Example: We have a man with a gun on the first floor at the west end of the building. He is about 5’6”, wearing sunglasses and a green jacket. This message is not only concise and informative, but it empowers occupants to consider feasible options, i.e. if they are on the other end of the building, might they risk getting out now.

C=COUNTER

Counter tactics include using noise, random screaming, yelling, playing a radio loudly, distracting movement (people stomping or throwing things may break the intruder(s) focus) and distancing yourself away from the area. The actions listed above in Lockdown are all countermeasures.

E=EVACUATE

This is a last resort situation that is created by the intruder. The ALICE program never advises to aggressively engage a shooter. If you are confronted by a shooter, counter methods are appropriate.

For more information on ALICE, visit their website. You can also contact your Trusted Choice Independent Insurance Agent at Richey-Barrett Insurance Agency to learn more about this topic and about anything insurance-related.