CRITICAL EVENT ACTIVE SHOOTER: IMMEDIATE RESPONSE FIRST INTERVENER

Abstract

Crisis management consists of an action plan regarding a specific crisis, aimed at containing it. It is grounded in two distinct systems: static and dynamic. The dynamic crisis system encompasses specific types of crises, including the active shooter scenario. The active shooter critical incident gained widespread recognition following the Columbine massacre in the United States in 1999—a tragedy that influenced crisis management doctrine, particularly regarding incidents involving random shooters. This necessitated an immediate police response based on a concept that emerged thereafter: that of the "first responder." In this study, titled "Active Shooter Critical Incident: Immediate Response by the First Responder," we discuss issues concerning this dynamic crisis—the active shooter—and the need for police intervention to bring the critical incident to a close. The research aimed to analyze procedures related to active shooter crises and to understand the importance of an immediate response provided by the first responder. The methodology was based on Marconi and Lakatos (2024) and Minayo, Deslandes, and Gomes (2016), consisting of bibliographic and documentary research as well as a discussion of real-world cases, with the goal of inductively grounding the study through qualitative procedures. Ultimately, the study concluded that the active shooter critical incident is a highly complex police event requiring an immediate response—specifically, that of the first responder.