LBCC Active Shooter Response

Preparing ourselves for the unimaginable

Max Jacobsen

Shooters are out there. People with weapons and intent to use them to harm others are still among us. Here at Linn Benton Community College, we are taking the steps necessary to prepare ourselves for an active shooter event.

An email was recently circulated by Marcene Olson, Safety and Loss Prevention Manager. She reminds readers the importance of educating ourselves and planning for a shooter catastrophe, “The intent of this email is not to alarm you but to remind us all that these situations can happen anywhere at anytime.” Included in the email were links to the schools Active Shooter Protocols, and Lockdown Procedures.

With several very recent shootings at the front of everyone’s mind, the Dec. 17^th Clackamas Shooting, and the Sandy Hook Dec. 14^th shooting, among others, Marcene felt it necessary to remind everyone at LBCC the possibility of a similar event happening here. Stressed is the importance of educating yourself to the point of being able to make decisions to help protect you and those around you.

Run, hide, fight. The three words, the three tools that everyone should have ready and waiting in the event of another shooting tragedy nearby. Outlined in the Active Shooter Protocols, are the means by which to use these tools. Run, if you can get out safely. Hide, if running is not an option. Fight, if your other options are not available, if your life and the lives of those around you are in immediate danger, fight.

“I believe we are very well prepared,” says Bruce Thompson, Loss Prevention Coordinator here at LBCC. Through drills, active discussions and constant investigation, Bruce believes the school is well prepared for a possible shooting event.

LBCC has had two shooter scares in the past five years, both resulting in a school-wide lockdown, both resolved peacefully without incident. The last event being in late 2010, when two individuals in camouflage attire and assault rifles over shoulder were seen walking near campus. The threat was quickly dismissed when it was discovered the two individuals were actually young boys, whose parents had spray painted their toy guns black for them. Both these non-violent events have helped LBCC create the protocols in place today to help keep us safe.

             Rob Camp, a student at LBCC and the student leadership VP, thinks the protocols should be better known, "Students need to be better prepared and informed, not knowing could make a bad situation worse." Although Camp thinks the student body could be better prepared he also says "I feel pretty darn safe!" 

“The key is not just to educate, but to re-educate ourselves and others regularly, and to make a plan.” Thompson stresses, “Pay attention to new information… protocols are always evolving, always changing to better protect and prepare us.” Thompson clarifies that we should “…avoid tabloid views, instead focus on self education and proper preparation.”

Further information on Active Shooter Protocols can be found under the Public Safety section of LBCC website.

At A Glance:

LBCC's Active Shooter Protocols:

Run- If possible, get out and away, run.

Hide- If running is not an option. Barricade yourself in a room, find a secure hiding place.

Fight- As a last resort, if your life is in immediate danger, fight. Fight for your life!

More on LBCC's Active Shooter Protocol Page