YOUNGSTOWN — Knowing what to do if an active-shooting situation occurs at Youngstown State University can be distilled down to three “P’s:” planning, prevention and proactivity, a longtime law-enforcement official contends.

“This is a type of inoculation you’re getting. This is like a vaccine,” YSU police Chief Shawn V. Varso said.

What prompted the university to tailor how it would respond to such situations was an incident Dec. 3, 2018, in which a fight took place between a student and a Youngstown man on Kilcawley Center’s second floor. The altercation resulted in a two-hour campuswide lockdown after the student left the scene and called police, claiming the man had a gun.

No firearm was found, however, and one of the men was charged with inducing panic, the other with disorderly conduct, Varso noted.

But the incident “raised a lot of questions about what should and should not be done” regarding handling someone with a weapon on campus, which led to developing an approach that is “YSU-centric,” the chief explained.

IMPORTANT PLANS

Kilcawley was the venue last week as Varso addressed a few dozen students, faculty members and others who attended an active-shooter training session.

Varso stressed the importance of planning for the possibility — no matter how remote it may seem — of encountering an active shooter on the campus. That entails not assuming it can’t happen to oneself, sharing with students, co-workers and others a concrete escape plan and knowing where exits are in classrooms, offices and other locations throughout campus, he pointed out.

A key prevention strategy is being alert to and reporting someone who exhibits consistently troubling, suspicious and disturbing behavior. The major indicators that a person is in trouble are depression and withdrawal, an increased interest in firearms (including buying and stockpiling them), serious financial problems, empathizing with high-profile mass shooters, paranoia, suicidal statements, severe mood swings, explosive behavior that’s unprovoked, decreased attention to one’s appearance and hygiene, increased drug or alcohol use and increased unexplained absenteeism, Varso said, noting that checking for a pattern is critical.

The chief stressed that authorities’ main priority would be to get help for such a person, not make an arrest or kick the person off campus.

“We are here to help our students succeed,” he said.

Between 2001 and 2019, about 51 percent of those with knowledge of a possible shooting incident reported it, Varso noted.

ALERT SYSTEM

YSU has a variety of means to quickly respond to and get information out about an active-shooter situation, such as the PenguinAlert Notification System, which instantly disseminates information about active-shooter and other urgent situations to mobile devices. It is available to students and faculty by going to www.ysu.edu/ysu-police/penguin-alert.

In addition, in the event of an active-shooter situation, PenguinAlert will send a message with a loud beep to those en route to campus that sounds like an Amber Alert, warning them to stay away, Varso continued.

Another is the Simplex Mass Communication System, a series of interconnected public-address speakers across campus for police to broadcast information inside and outside of campus buildings, Varso said. He added that YSU also has about 118 phones for emergency use.

Information pertaining to a mass shooter also can be obtained via the university’s social-media sites, website and WYSU-FM 88.5, all of which would offer consistent messages in real time. Nevertheless, popular social-media platforms should be avoided, because they often display incorrect and inaccurate information as well as rumors, Varso cautioned.

“Don’t trust what you see on regular social media,” he advised. “Only trust the information you’re getting from the university.”

Doors to most classrooms lock automatically after being closed. Those who are in rooms without such a feature should barricade doors with furniture and other heavy equipment, and those inside should avoid standing in front of a door, Varso explained.

Related ways to prevent a shooter from entering are to secure a door’s armatures with a belt or with a heavy-duty cord that can be bought at Walmart and other stores. Both should be done by standing to the side of the door, not in front, he continued. Also, a chair placed the correct way can make a door impenetrable, the chief added.

Additional ways to prevent being a victim when it’s unsafe to run, or the shooter is in the vicinity, include ceasing teaching the class, hiding behind filing cabinets or other sturdy and heavy objects in the room, closing blinds, turning off lights and silencing cellphones, Varso noted.

In some cases, someone may want out of the room, and if it’s deemed safe enough to allow the person to leave, no effort should be made to remove barricades to let the person re-enter, he cautioned.

“They’re on their own,” Varso said, meaning it would be too risky to take those steps.

In addition, it may be necessary to break a window to escape. The best way is to use a hammer or other blunt instrument to strike the sides or corners, he explained.

LAST RESORT

As a last resort, it’s important to aggressively fight back, which can entail a group of people in a room yelling at and threatening to kill the intruder, both of which can thwart the shooter, who’s likely under extreme mental duress. If the “bad guy” enters the room, it can be imperative to attack by tossing whatever objects are available and doing what’s necessary until the shooter is subdued, Varso said.

“If they can’t get in that room, they’ll go for an easier target. Don’t make yourself an easy target,” he added.

If a mass shooting did take place on campus, YSU police would have plenty of mutual aid. After the incident, authorities would advise survivors to keep their hands in plain sight and follow orders, and they would be taken to a safe space for identification and debriefing, Varso explained.

The chief also noted that an active shooting situation is broader than merely someone using a gun. It also can include other weapons such as a knife and a vehicle, said Varso, who cited a November 2016 incident in which a man struck a group of pedestrians with his car, then got out and cut several people with a butcher knife at The Ohio State University. Police fatally shot the man.

“It’s all basically the same attack,” Varso said.

In addition, incidents should be reported to YSU police at 330-941-3527, he added.

Active shooter situations

What to do if such an incident occurs at Youngstown State University:

• Run. Get off campus as quickly as possible to a nearby safe place at the first sign of danger.

• Hide. If running away isn’t possible, or the shooter is nearby, find a place where you won’t be seen. Hide behind heavy objects such as filing cabinets and lock doors or, if they don’t lock automatically, ensure they’re heavily barricaded.

• Fight as a last resort. Yell, make continual threats and use whatever weapons are available to thwart the shooter until the perpetrator has been subdued.

SOURCE: YSU Police Department