The FBI initiated this study to add to the resources available to law enforcement and others who must consider their best course of action to prepare for, respond to, and recover from active shooter incidents. Using the same criteria over a 14-year span, the FBI sought to determine whether the number of active shooter incidents had changed, concluding the trend over the study period showed a steady rise. In the first half of the years studied, the average annual number of incidents was 6.4, but that average rose in the second half of the study to 16.4, an average of more than one incident per month.

Some of the results indicated:

• location categories where the majority of incidents occur
• clarity on instances where law enforcement appeared to be most at risk when responding to a scene
• identifying characteristics of shooters
• identifying location categories where victim targets were more readily identifiable, shooters' connections to locations
• clarify the environment with regard to level of risk citizens face and speed with which active shooter incidents occur.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation

 10 Lessons Learned from the new FBI Study on Active Shooter