Expert gives insight on active shooter response training

 

Mishawaka, Ind. -- A mass shooting at Greenwood Park Mall on Sunday left three dead and two more injured on Sunday.

Four of the victims were female and one was a male.

The suspect was shot and killed by an armed citizen at the mall and believed to be an adult male who entered the food court around 6 p.m. with a rifle and several magazines of ammo

The Good Samaritan was identified as a twenty-two-year-old from Bartholomew County who had a legal gun permit and is fully cooperating with police.

The shooting took place in Greenwood, Indiana, just south of Indianapolis.

I talked with Josh Gobel, who has experience in both policing and security, to get his perspective of the shooting and the actions you should take if you are in that scenario.

“The initial reaching is kind of shock. You’re not used to you know that doesn’t happen every day,” said Gobel.

For security and police alike action has to be quick.

When arriving to a mass shooting scene like what unfolded in Greenwood, Indiana, Sunday night, all the training kicks in.

“It switches over to what you have to do when you get there and you start thinking through scenarios from your training and things of that nature,” Gobel tells ABC57.

The personnel vary from mall to mall. Some have unarmed security officers’.

Others use armed but off-duty police officers and sources tell ABC57 news the University Park Mall in Mishawaka employs both.

“I know of some have off-duty police officers either all day or just during some shifts like that and it varies from time to time,” Gobel said.

For the on-duty officers who arrive to an active shooter scene, Gobel says, unlike what happened in Uvalde, Texas, during the school massacre back in May, they should enter right away and take control of the situation.

“Whether you are the first officer or after the first officer. The training changed after Columbine. It used to be wait, but that changed in 1999 or whenever Columbine happened,” Gobel said.

The University Park Mall is owned by Simon Properties, who also owns the mall in Greenwood. 

Simon put out a statement earlier saying, “We grieve for the victims of yesterday’s horrific tragedy in Greenwood. Violence has no place in this or any other community. We are grateful for the strong response of the first responders, including the heroic actions of the Good Samaritan who stopped the suspect.”

Following Monday's press conference in Greenwood, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb issued the following statement: 

“I join all Hoosiers in being grateful for the quick, heroic actions taken by an individual citizen and first responders on Sunday evening in Greenwood, surely preventing further loss of life and injuries. I stand with the community in grieving the loss of lives, and my thoughts are also with the many people impacted by this traumatic incident, including innocent bystanders whose lives are forever changed.”