Active Shooter: Run-Hide-Fight
RUN: Evacuate if you safely can.
- Have an exit in mind before you need one
- Leave your belongings
- Move quickly away from the sounds of violence
- Prevent others from entering the area if possible
- Call 911 when you are safe
HIDE: If you cannot run, deny access.
- Get off the hallway, out of open spaces
- Lock the door if possible
- Barricade with heavy furniture
- Silence your phone completely
- Turn off lights
- Stay away from the door
- Do not open the door for anyone claiming to be police — wait for law enforcement to clear
FIGHT: Last resort when you will die if you do nothing.
- Commit completely — half-measures fail
- Attack the attacker's ability to function: disrupt the weapon, control the hands
- Use improvised weapons: fire extinguisher, chair, laptop, coffee mug
- Team effort is more effective than individual effort
Decision Logic
Run first. Most people who survive active shooter events do so by moving away from the threat quickly. Moving away reduces your exposure, creates distance, and gets you to safety where you can call for help.
The barrier to running is often the freeze response — the cognitive paralysis that occurs in the first seconds of recognizing a threat. ALERRT research shows that people who have mentally rehearsed their response to an active shooter event (even briefly, in their head) are more likely to act rather than freeze. That is what this guide is for.
Before you need it: Every time you enter a building, note the exits. This takes five seconds and creates a neural shortcut that your frozen brain can access in an emergency.
Barricading Technique
If running is not possible and you are in a room:
- Lock the door. Most active shooters do not engage a locked door if easier targets are accessible.
- Barricade the door. Push heavy furniture against the door handle side — desks, filing cabinets, bookshelves. A barricaded door that cannot be locked is more resistant than a locked door without a barricade.
- Position away from the door. Do not cluster near the door — if it fails, move away from the entry point.
- Silence all phones. Not vibrate. Silent.
- Turn off lights. A dark room with no sound makes the occupants less detectable.
- Stay low. Get below window and door level.
- Do not respond to voice commands unless you can verify it is law enforcement (badge visible under door, law enforcement announcement).
When Law Enforcement Arrives
Officers responding to an active shooter scene are in an extreme physiological and psychological stress state. Their first priority is locating the threat. You are initially an unknown.
From your side:
- Keep hands visible
- Do not reach for a phone or wallet
- Drop everything
- Follow all instructions exactly and immediately
- Say "I am not the threat" clearly if you have a chance
- Point officers toward the last known location of the attacker if you can do so safely
Do not argue, do not explain, do not resist. You can explain everything after you are out of the building and the scene is secured.
Mental Preparation
The research on active shooter survival consistently shows that the people who fare best have one thing in common: they make a decision and act. The decision does not have to be the right one — it just has to be a decision, and it has to be immediate.
Freeze response is the most common and most deadly response to an active threat. The antidote to freeze is rehearsal — knowing what you will do before you need to do it.
This guide is that rehearsal. Read it. Then close your eyes and run through it once. That 60-second mental rehearsal is more valuable than any physical training.
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Run-Hide-Fight the correct framework?
Run-Hide-Fight (or Avoid-Deny-Defend) is the consensus framework from federal law enforcement and active shooter response training. It reflects the research showing that survival rates are highest for those who evacuate immediately, second-highest for those who effectively barricade and deny entry, and lower for those who freeze or wait.
When is fighting the right response?
Fight is the last option — when evacuation is not possible and barricading has failed or is not possible. Fighting is also appropriate as an ambush if an attacker attempts to enter a barricaded space. The research on fighting as a last resort is clear: it saves lives more often than passive waiting in an inescapable situation.
How do I tell law enforcement I am not the threat?
Keep your hands visible at all times. Drop everything you are carrying. Do not reach for the officer. Follow instructions immediately and exactly. Do not make sudden movements. Identify yourself verbally. Officers arriving to an active shooter scene are in an extreme stress state — give them unambiguous indicators that you are not a threat.