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Analyzing Active Threat Response Models: A Comparative Study

Founded in 2002 with principles strongly guided by the Christian faith, Strategos International comprises a team of over 500 contracted security specialists who provide reality-based training, consulting, and protection services across the globe for businesses, military, law enforcement, health care, schools, insurance companies, and churches.

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Its article, Analyzing Active Threat Response Models: A Comparative Study, summarizes various recommendations of how to act in the event of an active killer situation.

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

Strategos describes its white paper as “an in-depth comparative analysis of active threat response models, focusing on the RUN, HIDE, FIGHT methodology, the A.L.I.C.E. response model, the A.D.D. (Avoid, Deny, Defend) approach, and the Strategos 3-OUT (Lock Out, Get Out, Take Out) Response Model. The objective analysis—grounded in research and real-world outcomes—evaluates each model’s effectiveness, flexibility, and applicability across varied situations. Key findings highlight differences in approach, training requirements, and situational responsiveness, underscoring the need for adaptable, comprehensive strategies to enhance safety and preparedness.”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Chart: The Spectrum of Potential Threat Personas in Self-Defense and Church Security ]

The models examined are:

Alert Media’s October 2025 Quarterly Threat Review

Alert Media helps organizations respond to critical events with emergency communication solutions. It’s Global Intelligence Team monitors global threats 24/7/365.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Spiritual Fitness Self-Defense: Seeing Temptation as a Threat ]

After tracking threats between July 2025 and September 2025, its October 2025 Quarterly Threat Review analyzes 5 critical events during that period with significant and lasting impacts.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Chart: The Spectrum of Potential Threat Personas in Self-Defense and Church Security ]

Its focus is primarily businesses, but by extension, can be applied to general self-defense environmental situational awareness and public safety in the church security arena, providing insights into how similar threats might affect their operations—and how to prepare.

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

Here are the 5 analyses with brief annotations:

By semperverus
Posted on 10/14/202502/21/2026

Mitigating Attacks on Houses of Worship Security Guide

Terrorists, criminals, anarchists, and disrupters are attacking houses of worship (HoW). They assume HoW are soft targets; gun-free zones where media coverage and notoriety can be easily achieved through defenseless active killing.

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

In response, more HoW are establishing and training their own armed volunteer security teams.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Enroll in the Sheepdog Church Security Academy Safety Member Certification Program ]

One resource for these teams is the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)‘s 116-page PDF, Mitigating Attacks on Houses of Worship Security Guide.

Spiritual First Aid: Youth Mental Health Fact Sheets

It’s not always easy to recognize when a young person is experiencing mental health challenges. Some signs, like changes in sleep, focus, behavior, or school performance, can be easy to miss or misinterpret.

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of MENTAL HEALTH ]

The ministry Spiritual First Aid^™ offers the free downloadable PDF resource, Common Youth Mental Health Challenges Fact Sheets, a packet of 5 quick-reference pages to help you identify common challenges children and teens face—so you can better understand, support, and respond with care to their acting-out behavior.

A List of Active Killer Incidents at Houses of Worship and Religious Schools

Photo credit: David von Diemar, https://unsplash.com/@davidvondiemar Some people in leadership at churches still question why it’s necessary to have an armed and trained church security/safety team as part of their dedicated ministry efforts.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Active Killer Advice Compendium ]

The following list should be reason enough:

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• Congregation Beth Israel synagogue, Houston, Texas, Apr. 23, 2026
A juvenile and an 18-year-old female were arrested in Lexington, North Carolina, after allegedly planning a mass casualty attack on a Jewish day school in Houston, Texas. Court documents show that the conspiracy the female was allegedly planning was to “kill as many Jews as possible by driving through a congregation at a synagogue.”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Self-Defense and Church Security: Breathing and Mental Techniques to Reduce Anxiety ]

• Eden Church, Houston, Texas, Mar. 15, 2026
A 23-year-old man wearing a backpack and armed with a loaded gun and more than 100 rounds of ammunition was tackled by a security guard inside the church before he could open fire. While on the ground, he allegedly shouted, “I’m going to kill [the pastor], who is a fake prophet. I am a prophet called Warlock.” The security team and members of the church assisted the guard in restraining the man. He was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, The Biblical Case for Being a Christian AND a Warrior ]

• Temple Israel Synagogue, West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, Mar. 12, 2026
After waiting in the Temple Israel parking lot for more than two hours, a 41-year-old man, in a Hezbollah-inspired act of terror, rammed his pickup truck through the front doors of this 3,500-member family / 12,000-member Reform Jewish congregation, drove down a hall, opened fire through the windshield with a rifle after striking the congregation’s director of security, knocking him unconscious, and after which the vehicle burst into flames, engulfing the structure. The attacker exchanged fire with armed synagogue security personnel, then killed himself during the gunfight. Large quantities of commercial-grade fireworks and 35 gallons of gasoline were found in the back of the truck. All 140 students in its early childhood center, along with staff and teachers, were unharmed. At least 63 law enforcement officers were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.