Active Shooter Statistics

There have been a number of academic studies done on active shooting incidents. Here are some statistics from two of those studies.

John Nicolette, PhD, conducted a study of 35 active shooter incidents during 2012 and discussed the results of his study during a lecture entitled “Detection and Disruption of Insider/Outsider Perpetrated Violence.”

• The average active shooter incident lasts 12 minutes, while 37 percent last less than five minutes.
• 49 percent of attackers committed suicide, 34 percent were arrested, and 17 percent were killed.
• 51 percent of the attacks studied occurred in the workplace, while 17 percent occurred in a school, 17 percent occurred in a public place, and six percent occurred in a religious establishment.

Peter Blair, PhD, and Hunter Martindale, PhD, conducted a study of 84 active shooter incidents from 2001 to 2010. Here’s a summary of their findings:

• Two percent of the shooters bring improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as an additional weapon.
• In 10 percent of the cases, the shooter stops and walks away. In 20 percent of the cases, the shooter goes mobile, moving to another location.
• 43 percent of the time, the crime is over before police arrive. In 57 percent of the shootings, an officer arrives while shooting is still underway.
• The attacks ended before the police arrived 49 percent of the time. In 56 percent of the attacks ongoing when police arrived, officers had to use force to stop the killing.