The impact of security countermeasures on human behavior during active shooter incidents

Runhe Zhu,Gale M Lucas,Erroll G Southers,Burcin Becerik-Gerber,Earl Landicho

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-04922-8

Runhe Zhu, Gale M Lucas + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-04922-8

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Abstract

Active shooter incidents represent an increasing threat to American society, especially in commercial and educational buildings. In recent years, a wide variety of security countermeasures have been recommended by public and governmental agencies. Many of these countermeasures are aimed to increase building security, yet their impact on human behavior when an active shooter incident occurs remains underexplored. To fill this research gap, we conducted virtual experiments to evaluate the impact of countermeasures on human behavior during active shooter incidents. A total of 162 office workers and middle/high school teachers were recruited to respond to an active shooter incident in virtual office and school buildings with or without the implementation of multiple countermeasures. The experiment results showed countermeasures significantly influenced participants’ response time and decisions (e.g., run, hide, fight). Participants’ responses and perceptions of the active shooter incident were also contingent on their daily roles, as well as building and social contexts. Teachers had more concerns for occupants’ safety than office workers. Moreover, teachers had more positive perceptions of occupants in the school, whereas office workers had more positive perceptions of occupants in the office.

Highlights

Active shooter incidents represent an increasing threat to American society, especially in commercial and educational buildings
As active shooter incidents have only investigated in a few studies, the patterns of human behavior during active shooter incidents -across different types of buildings- are examined in this study
We aim to investigate if/how people’s responses to active shooter incidents are related to their daily roles, and if/how such relationship further affects the effectiveness of security countermeasures

Summary

Introduction

Active shooter incidents represent an increasing threat to American society, especially in commercial and educational buildings. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released several guidelines for building safety design in preparation for active shooter incidents and other types of attacks[17,18,19] While these guidelines involve a wide range of aspects, we chose to focus on the recommendations related to building design due to the following reasons. The design of emergency signage depends on people’s perception and recognition (e.g., color and location of signage)[25,26] With this in mind, we aim to empirically examine building design-related countermeasures for active shooter incidents with an emphasis on their influence on human behavior. As active shooter incidents have only investigated in a few studies, the patterns of human behavior during active shooter incidents -across different types of buildings- are examined in this study

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