Audio Transcript

Mollie Halpern: A study the FBI recently released shows an increased trend in the number of active shooter incidents over the last 14 years.

Katherine Schweit: In the first seven years of the study there was an average of 6.4 incidents that occurred every year, but that average rose in the second half of the study to 16.4. That means that now we have an average of more than one incident occurring a month.

Halpern: That was Katherine Schweit, the senior executive program manager of the Active Shooter Initiative. For nine months, the FBI and staff from the Texas State University identified and studied 160 active shooter incidents. Among the study’s findings—nearly half of the incidents where law enforcement engaged in gunfire to stop the threat, an officer was killed or injured.

Schweit: This shows us that law enforcement needs to be prepared, but we also found in the study that first responders need to be prepared, and citizens need to be prepared. That’s the best way that we can prevent, respond, and recover from these incidents.

Halpern: The study provides a baseline for future research.

Schweit: Over the next year, our behavioral experts are going to look at these particular incidents and try to determine what motivated these shooters to do what they did in hopes of preventing future incidents.

Halpern: Five active shooter suspects are currently at large. Read the study’s findings on www.fbi.gov. From FBI Headquarters, I’m Mollie Halpern with FBI, This Week.

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