Active Shooter

Keene State College recognizes that the prospect of a serious emergency on our campus is always a possibility. These threats can happen anywhere at any time. The Department of Campus Safety has an established protocol and works closely with the Keene Police Department and other local, state, and federal agencies to support a coordinated response to any threat. The best thing that YOU can do is be prepared.

How we inform the campus

When adequate, credible, reliable information is available, Keene State College will issue emergency alerts via text, email, and social media. Additional alerts may also be communicated via a campus-wide loudspeaker. Often, the amount of information available is extremely limited upon the first report of an emergency. Expect abbreviated actions steps to preserve your personal safety.

All Keene State College community members can sign up to receive emergency messages here

No two threat situations are alike. The techniques outlined in this video and in the Run, Hide, Fight directions may serve to guide your response to an emergency.

What to do

RUN and escape, if possible.

• Getting away from the shooter or shooters is the top priority.
• Leave your belongings behind and get away.
• Help others escape, if possible, but evacuate regardless of whether others agree to follow.
• Warn and prevent individuals from entering an area where the active shooter may be.
• Call 911 when you are safe, and describe shooter, location, and weapons.

HIDE, if escape is not possible.

• Get out of the shooter’s view and stay very quiet.
• Silence all electronic devices and make sure they won’t vibrate.
• Lock and block doors, close blinds, and turn off lights.
• Don’t hide in groups- spread out along walls or hide separately to make it more difficult for the shooter.
• Try to communicate with police silently. Use text message or social media to tag your location, or put a sign in a window.
• Stay in place until law enforcement gives you the all clear.
• Your hiding place should be out of the shooter’s view and provide protection if shots are fired in your direction.

FIGHT as an absolute last resort.

• Commit to your actions and act as aggressively as possible against the shooter.
• Recruit others to ambush the shooter with makeshift weapons like chairs, fire extinguishers, scissors, books, etc.
• Be prepared to cause severe or lethal injury to the shooter.
• Throw items and improvise weapons to distract and disarm the shooter.

AFTER

• Keep hands visible and empty.
• Know that law enforcement’s first task is to end the incident, and they may have to pass injured along the way.
• Officers may be armed with rifles, shotguns, and/or handguns and may use pepper spray or tear gas to control the situation.
• Officers will shout commands and may push individuals to the ground for their safety.
• Follow law enforcement instructions and evacuate in the direction they come from, unless otherwise instructed.
• Take care of yourself first, and then you may be able to help the wounded before first responders arrive.
• If the injured are in immediate danger, help get them to safety.
• While you wait for first responder to arrive, provide first aid. Apply direct pressure to wounded areas and use tourniquets if you have been trained to do so.
• Turn wounded people onto their sides if they are unconscious and keep them warm.
• Consider seeking professional help for you and your family to cope with the long-term effects of the trauma.