UT-Austin Police: What To Do If There's a Campus Shooting

The University of Texas at Austin Police Department is offering students and faculty advice on what to do in the event of a campus shooting.

They released a video on Friday that lays out how to respond if there’s an active shooter. It comes in the wake of Thursday’s deadly shooting at Umpqua Community College, which left 10 people dead and seven injured.

“The possibility of being involved in an active shooter incident on campus may be remote, but the consequences can be catastrophic. That’s why it makes good sense for you to spend some time thinking about what you would do if you found yourself in such a situation,” Jim Sporleder of the Center for Personal Protection and Safety says in the video.

“Even the best preventive systems can never be perfect. And let’s be candid, if lightning does strike, if an active shooter enters your area on campus, it will be unlike any situation you’ve ever experienced. And in those initial, heart-stopping moments, it will only involve you, other students and faculty… and the shooter,” Sporleder says. “The bottom line is, you’ll need to take direct responsibility for your personal safety and security. You MUST develop a survival mindset.”

Many people don’t even recognize the sound of shots fired, says Randy Spivey, also of UT’s Center for Personal Protection and Safety.

“Shots fired! Do you know what that sounds like? Unless you see the shooter, you may not recognize the sounds for what they are - gunshots. For most of us, our experience with gunshots is drawn from movies and television that use special sound effects. That means real gunshots can sound artificial. You could lose precious seconds as you slowly realize that these are, in fact, life-threatening sounds,” Spivey says in the video.

They advise students and faculty to always be aware of their surroundings and know where the exits are and where you could possibly hide from an assailant. And don’t huddle together.

“It’s much easier for someone to shoot a group of people who are huddled in one place than if they are scattered around the room. Even if you’re in a small room, spreading out will give you options and make it harder for the shooter if he does get into your hiding place,” Spivey says.

UT-Austin is no stranger to mass shootings. On Aug. 1, 1966, Charles Whitman entered the UT Tower with an arsenal of rifles, shotguns, and handguns. Over the next 96 minutes he shot 43 people, 13 of whom died, both in the Tower and on the street below from the 28th floor observation deck. The rampage ended when he was killed by Austin Police Officer Houston McCoy.

Whitman was an former Marine who had joined the military to escape his abusive father. After his honorable discharge, he enrolled as an architectural engineering student at UT. To support himself and his wife Kathy he also worked for the Texas Highway Department. He also volunteered as a Scout Leader.

Whitman was suffering from a brain tumor, which may have been the cause of his psychosis. Before engaging in the bloody spree he murdered his wife and mother, and left a suicide note which included “Lately, (I cannot recall when it started) I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts.”

Watch the video here.

[PHOTO: Charlotte Darehshori takes refuge behind the concrete base of a flagpole as a wounded student lies beside a hedge during the UT-Austin shooting of 1966. Wikipedia]