Before the murder-suicide incident March 10 at Cummins Seymour Technical Center, Seymour Police Chief Bill Abbott conducted workplace violence training about once a year.

But since that incident, five local industries have had him visit to share information about workplace violence.

This year, local police also have trained Jackson County Public Library employees.

With a workplace shooting happening that close to home, industries and public facilities have realized the importance of being prepared in the event another incident occurs.

“This is at the top of everybody’s mind because it happened here,” Abbott said. “Everybody thinks it’ll never happen here.”

On the morning of March 10, Qing Chen, 37, of Seymour, showed up for work at Cummins and 16 minutes later shot and killed his supervisor, Ward R. Edwards II, 49, of Columbus, and then himself.

When officers arrived, Cummins employees were exiting the technical center and Seymour Engine Plant. A fire alarm had been pulled, but Abbott said many of the employees thought it was a fire drill.

Once officers arrived in the area of the shooting on the second floor of the technical center, everyone was ordered to lie on the floor with their hands up because at the time, police still thought they had an active shooter.

When police knew they no longer had an active shooter situation, they were able to secure the scene.

Police weren’t able to determine a motive.

During workplace violence training, Abbott refers to an “Active Shooter: How to Respond” booklet created by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and an active shooter study quick reference guide put together by the FBI.

An active shooter is defined as an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area, according to homeland security. In most cases, the shooter uses a firearm, and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims.

The situations are unpredictable and evolve quickly. Typically, the immediate deployment of law enforcement is required to stop the shooting and mitigate harm to victims, according to homeland security.

Since the situations usually are over within 10 to 15 minutes before police arrive on scene, people must be prepared mentally and physically to deal with the situation at hand.

Homeland security provides these good practices for coping with an active shooter situation:

• Be aware of your environment and any possible dangers.
• Take note of the two nearest exits in any facility you visit.
• If you are in an office, stay there and secure the door.
• If you are in a hallway, get into a room and secure the door.
• As a last resort, attempt to take the active shooter down. When the shooter is at close range and you cannot flee, your chance of survival is much greater if you try to incapacitate him or her.
• Call 911 when it is safe to do so.

Abbott said during the training, he tells people to keep “run, hide, fight” in mind if they are faced with an active shooter. If they are able to run away from the shooter, do so. If you can’t run away, Abbott said, you don’t have to be armed to protect yourself. Items such as tools or steel bars could be used as a weapon and to distract the shooter.

“I tell people, ‘Do away with the hide. If you’re not running, you’re fighting because you’re either going to be running or fighting like your life depends on it because it does,'” he said. “If you’re going to hide, why be a willing victim?”

The running part involves evacuating the building and knowing where to gather. It’s then the job of managers to account for all employees.

Abbott said it’s also not a bad idea for management to make contact with nearby industries, businesses or churches so employees could gather there in the event of a shooting.

In developing a workplace violence policy or plan, Abbott said it should be kept simple.

“It doesn’t have to be big and elaborate because people will tell you that an elaborate plan executed two weeks from now is no good, but a simple plan executed now is perfect. The simpler, the better,” he said. “There’s a whole lot of stuff to think about, but in reality, it’s very simple. You’re looking at your employees and their self-preservation and what’s going to happen after that.”

In February, about 40 Jackson County Public Library staff members received training on active shooters and overall safety.

Library director Julia Aker said she chose to have the training because the library is a public building and a lot of people go in and out of there on a daily basis. The library also serves as a shelter for people, and some families meet there for supervised visitations.

Aker said a state law passed a few years ago allows people to walk into a library with a weapon as long as they are not threatening with it.

After the training, Aker said she realized an active shooter plan needs to be added to the library’s emergency procedures.

“That is definitely something we’re working on this year,” she said. “We wanted to hear the presentation first and see what (police) told us to do.”

Aker said the training was beneficial for her staff.

“They’ve heard the presentation, and they know a lot more than they did beforehand,” she said.

Schneck Medical Center also has a lot of people coming in and out of the facility and more than 900 employees, so preparedness training for employees is key, said Stephanie Furlow, the Seymour hospital’s director of public relations and marketing.

As part of the disaster preparedness plan, Furlow said the hospital already has a specific active shooter plan. All employees watch a video with local law enforcement and hospital staff members showing what to do in the event of an active shooter on the premises.

“I like our plan because it’s very simple,” Furlow said. “It’s three words — it’s run, hide, fight — so you know exactly what to do. You just need to be extra cautious and extra aware of what’s going on around you.”

Soon after the Cummins shooting, Schneck conducted a hotwash, where hospital leaders met to discuss what happened and review their procedures.

“We do that after every disaster training that we go through, and we look at what happened, what went off like clockwork and if we need to do any type of training,” Furlow said.

The March 10 incident also had some Schneck employees concerned because they knew family members and friends who worked at Cummins.

“It can affect us no matter where we are,” Furlow said of shooting incidents. “It’s not a big-city problem. I think (the Cummins incident) proved it.”

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In 2014, the FBI looked at 160 active shooter incidents between 2000 and 2013. The study found the following:

An average of 11.4 incidents occurred annually with an increasing trend from 2000 to 2013.

An average of 6.4 occurred in the first seven years studied and an average of 16.4 occurred in the last seven years.

Incidents occurred in 40 of 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Sixty percent of the incidents ended before police arrived.

In 63 incidents where the duration of the incident could be ascertained, 44 (69 percent) ended in five minutes or less, with 23 ending in two minutes or less.

Sixty-four (40 percent) incidents fell within the parameters of the federal definition of “mass killing” (three or more killed).

All but two incidents involved a single shooter.

In at least nine incidents, the shooter first shot and killed a family member(s) in a residence before moving to a more public location to continue shooting.

The shooter committed suicide in 64 (40 percent) incidents, 37 before police arrived, 17 after police arrived and 10 at another location.

Six shooters were female, and the rest were male.

In businesses closed to pedestrian traffic, 22 of the 23 shooters were current or former employees.

The number of people killed was 486, while 557 were wounded.

In at least 15 (9.4 percent) incidents, family members were targeted, resulting in 20 killed and one wounded.

In 16 (10 percent) incidents, current, former or estranged wives as well as current or former girlfriends were targeted, resulting in 12 killed, three wounded and one unharmed. Forty-two others were killed and 28 wounded.

Ninety (56.3 percent) incidents ended on the shooter’s initiative by the shooter committing suicide, fleeing or stopping shooting.

Twenty-one (13.1 percent) incidents ended after unarmed citizens successfully restrained the shooter.

In 45 (28.1 percent) incidents, law enforcement engaged in gunfire to end the threat. In 21 (46.7 percent) of those incidents, nine officers were killed, and 28 were wounded.

Seventy-three incidents occurred in commercial areas (businesses open or closed to pedestrian traffic and malls); 39 occurred in educational areas (schools preschool-12 or institutions of higher education); 16 occurred on government property; 15 occurred in open space; seven happened at a residence; six happened in houses of worship; and four occurred in health care facilities.

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