Articles with active killer

WHCA Dinner Shooter: Is Your Situational Awareness Keen Enough?


Notice in the above Washington Hilton hotel security camera photo, only one security guard (lower left) is aware of the lethal threat that has begun: he has drawn his pistol and is pointing it at the suspect running through the magnetometer, who is armed with a 12-gauge shotgun. In this split-second freeze-frame, the other security personnel don’t know it’s happening yet. Now visualize this is happening through the front or side door of your church as you stand watch during your church security team volunteer shift. Think through how you could prepare for this with heightened situational awareness. Then think through what action you would take.

Church Security: Detect Threats With the “Power of Hello”

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)’s “Power of Hello” is a security initiative and training program applicable to church security teams and church ushers and greeters that teaches individuals to prevent disruptive incidents by observing suspicious behavior and initiating friendly engagement.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Church Greeters and Ushers: Eyes and Ears for Security ]

Used effectively, the right words can be a powerful tool. Simply saying “Hello” can prompt a casual conversation with unknown individuals and help you determine why they are there.

Prepare for Teams of Terrorists, Says Gabe Suarez

Gabe Suarez is a no-holds-barred, full-throated, say-what-he-thinks, blunt, honest, speaking-to-the-point firearms and self-defense expert with decades of experience in martial arts and law enforcement, including being a SWAT sniper and assaulter. He was awarded the Police Medal of Valor for a gunfight against three armed robbery-homicide suspects and he’s the founder and trainer of Suarez Tactics, a training and consulting organization focused solely on developing the art of tactics and gunfighting. His YouTube channel is @suareztactics.

On his Patreon site, he’s written the forceful article, You and the Terrorist(s). With his permission, and because it has application for church security teams, we have summarized the article below (but you’ll want to subscribe to his Patreon site, read the full article there, and learn from all the site’s insightful self-defense content). As Gabe Suarez says, “We teach good guys how to prevail against the bad guys. Whether facing a common robber or a terrorist bent on mass murder, we teach you the skills to defeat them, and as well to live a life of excellence.”

[ Bookmark the SemperVerus CHURCH SECURITY INTELLIGENCE CLIPBOARD ]

He begins by pointing to John Lott’s research paper, Do Armed Civilians Stop Active Shooters More Effectively Than Uniformed Police?, in accepting the fact that private citizens defeat active shooters to a greater degree and with better results—collectively—than law enforcement.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A List of Active Killer Incidents at Houses of Worship and Religious Schools ]

Mr. Suarez stresses that, in today’s anarchistic world requiring the need of heightened self-defense, “we are not looking for a lone wolf terrorist, nor a drugged up psychiatric patient, but rather—as Sarah Adams notes—a well trained and dedicated terrorist known as a ‘Fedayeen’ (Arabic: ‘those who sacrifice themselves’).” He compares this combatant to the Kamikaze of WW2. He says, “Their goal is to kill as many Americans as possible and to die ‘gloriously’ in the process.”

Checklist: Questions to Ask During a Bomb Threat Call

Arson and explosives are among the weaponized options in the arsenal of terrorists, criminals, anarchists, and the mentally unstable.

[ Bookmark the SemperVerus CHURCH SECURITY INTELLIGENCE CLIPBOARD ]

ISIS and other terrorist entities continue to issue chilling calls for violence, urging radicalized supporters to use improvised explosive devices (IED), and/or set fire, to cause mayhem and damage churches and synagogues around the world.

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of THREAT ANALYSIS ]

Regular propaganda communication to extremists includes bomb-making instructions and complex attack plans using multiple methods, such as fire, IEDs, firearms, and vehicle ramming.

Interview With Michael Elerick of Public Safety Training LLC

SemperVerus interviewed Michael Elerick, founder and president of Public Safety Training LLC and Church Security-101, which provides security training and safety consulting services to churches.

[ Bookmark the SemperVerus CHURCH SECURITY INTELLIGENCE CLIPBOARD ]

Please describe Church Security-101 and explain the services you provide.
Church Security-101 is focused on one core mission: helping churches create a culture of safety and security so their people can worship, fellowship, and serve in peace. At the heart of what we do is helping ministries be both prepared and protected without losing their welcoming spirit. Our services fall into three main areas: