Interview With Active Shooter Incident Expert, Lt. Col. Ed Monk
SemperVerus interviewed Ed Monk, retired Army officer, former schoolteacher, law enforcement officer and firearms trainer, and author of First 30 Seconds: The Active Shooter Problem.
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What led you to conduct your extensive research and write the book, First 30 Seconds?
I started researching the Active Shooter problem because of my transition from the Army to public education. In August of 2007, I retired from the Army after 24 years of active duty and 15 months after returning from duty in Iraq. I was an Armor officer, so I served mostly in units with tanks. Planning for, analyzing, and wargaming violence was my job.
Ten days after my Army retirement, I began teaching public high school. I was told the school’s policy for Active Shooter response was to gather all students in the corners of their classroom, making them an easy target for the attacker. I was told we could not leave the building and run away, and we could not plan to counterattack and fight the shooter when he entered a classroom. I was told this was “best practices” after 30 years of Active Shooter attacks.
After 18 years of studying, researching, analyzing, and wargaming previous Active Shooter attacks, and after 15 years providing training on this topic to schools, churches, and law enforcement, I wrote First 30 Seconds. I wrote it to publish a record of 40 years of America’s failure at Active Shooter response due to refusing to do what TIME & MATH clearly show we should do.
“One of the most important books of 2025 in my opinion is First 30 Seconds by Ed Monk, whose military and police experience and intensive research have made him probably the leading authority on how to shortstop mass murders,” says Massad Ayoob, firearms expert, self-defense instructor, and security advisor par excellence.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, Active Killer Advice Compendium ]
Please explain what you mean by TIME & MATH, the two most important factors in planning a response to an Active Killer attack.
1. TIME & MATH. Active Shooters will shoot a new victim every few seconds after they start their attack. So, the longer we allow them to shoot victims, the more victims we will have after the attack ends. Or, the sooner the Active Shooter is stopped, the fewer victims will result.
There is a one-to-four-minute delay between the start of an attack and the first 911 call being heard by a dispatch operator. There will likely be 10-plus victims shot by the time the first 911 call is heard. That operator must first understand the call, then send a radio dispatch to police. Police must then travel to the reported attack location, find, and stop the Active Shooter. The time all these actions take usually results in a victim-count of 20-plus. Given the expected victim shoot-rate of an Active Shooter, the only way to cause an attack to end with a low (0–9) victim-count is to counterattack and end the attack within 30 seconds of the first shot. The only people who can do this are the intended victims, not responding cops.
2. We must expect, plan for, and wargame against a realistic opponent. This is a motivated, thinking, creative, adaptive, evil attacker. He will shoot through glass or locks to enter a building or room. He will shoot through doors and walls. He will shoot guards at metal detectors.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, A List of Active Killer Incidents at Houses of Worship and Religious Schools ]
Or watch the above video on YouTube here.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, Tactical Training for Individuals and Church Security Teams to Thwart Active Violence Incidents ]
You teach that defenders in an active shooter situation must simultaneously fight two threats: the active shooter (the First Enemy) and the race against time (the Second Enemy). How should a person train to acquire the mindset that will effectively thwart the Second Enemy in every attack?
People should understand the Active Shooter and his attack. They should understand that each person in an attack has 3 options: FIGHT, Flee, Barricade. And that’s the order in which the options should be considered.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, Analyzing Active Threat Response Models: A Comparative Study ]
Or watch the above video on YouTube here.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, Christian Warrior Training’s Database Analysis of Houses of Worship Active Killer Incidents ]
Do you advocate for a church to have both unarmed and armed security team volunteers?
To cause the lowest victim-count if attacked, the church must successfully counterattack and stop the Active Shooter as soon as possible, but at least within 30 seconds. This can be done with guns or by other means. But using guns is by far the most efficient way, and most successful way, to stop an Active Shooter. Churches having an armed welcoming party for an Active Shooter have been successful 100% of the time, so far.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, The Biblical Case Why Every Church Needs Armed Security ]
Or watch the above video on YouTube here.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, Firearms Training: A Directory of Shooting Drills ]
What skills should a church security volunteer seek to perfect?
For the Active Shooter threat, here are two:
1. Each armed volunteer must know his/her “distance.” This is the maximum distance from a man-sized target that the volunteer can guarantee every shot they fire results in a solid hit. Then they must have the emotional control and discipline to not engage an Active Shooter until they are within this distance.
2. About half of church Active Shooter attacks start outside the church building. Security teams must have part of their welcoming party outside in the parking lot.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, The Parking Lot: The First Part of a Security Incident ]
Or watch the above video on YouTube here.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, Prepare for Teams of Terrorists, Says Gabe Suarez ]
What principles do you recommend church security team volunteers apply from First 30 Seconds?
Have their armed volunteers spread out on the church property in a way that no matter where the attack starts, at least 1 (preferably 2 for redundancy) of the armed members can see or hear the first shot and quickly counterattack and end it.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, The 5 Lines of Defense in Church Security, Beginning Outside ]
Or watch the above video on YouTube here.
[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of TRAINING ]
What frequency and methods (dry-fire, table top, range, etc.) of training do you recommend for church security volunteers?
Because they are volunteers, rigid, frequent, mandatory training sessions are likely unrealistic. The most important skill is for each member to know his or her maximum “distance.” If the church’s area has handgun competitions such as IDPA, IPSC, or similar events, I urge team members to shoot in these matches. These matches allow members to train when their family, jobs, and lives allow. They also allow members to see highly skilled shooters, test their gear, and manage their balance of accuracy and speed.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, IDPA: Practical Training for Self-Defense and Church Security ]
What are your recommendations for church security team members for crowd control and threat management based on the White House Correspondents Dinner shooting?
Nothing different. Have armed members intelligently spread out so that 1 or more can hear or see the start of the attack and immediately counterattack and stop the attack with 100% accurate shots.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, WHCA Dinner Shooter: Is Your Situational Awareness Keen Enough? ]
Is there anything else you’d like to say?
Active Shooter attacks are deadly and scary, but mechanically simple. Immediate, violent counter-attack is the only response that has a high probability of resulting in a low victim count.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, Church Security Armament Recommendations By Tom Givens, John Correia, and 6 Other Professionals ]
Also See:
• The ConcealedCarry.com podcast interview, The First 30 Seconds: Ed Monk on the Time & Math of Stopping Active Shooters.
• The Police1 article, Seconds Save Lives: A Review of Ed Monk’s Active Shooter Instructor Class.
• The Armed Citizens Network article, Responses to Mass Shooting Attacks: An Interview with Ed Monk.
• The First 30 Seconds website.
• The Last Resort Training & Consulting Facebook page.
• The 55 Defense website.
Or watch the above video on YouTube here.
[ Read the SemperVerus article, A Prayer for Church Security Team Members ]
BIO: Ed Monk is a police officer, firearms trainer, author, former schoolteacher, and retired Army officer. He has researched and provided training on the Active Shooter threat since 2007. He has trained law enforcement agencies, schools, churches, businesses and armed citizens nationwide. He has been an invited speaker at many international, national, and state conferences across the country. In 2007, Ed retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel and battalion commander after 24 years of active-duty in the US, Europe, and Iraq. He then taught high school and served as a deputy sheriff in Kentucky. He now serves as a part-time police officer in Arkansas. Ed has a BS in US History from West Point, an MS in Adult Education from Kansas State University, and he is a graduate of the US Army’s Command & General Staff College. He is author of the book, First 30 Seconds.
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