American Response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

This paper explores and serves as a reaction to the emergency response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting which occurred on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. This shooting was the most devastating and most widely debated active shooter event in recent memory. The Sandy Hook School shooting and the response thereafter stirred a widespread criticism, concern, and debate. Emergency response roles and responsibilities established in the National Response Framework (NRF) and the classic phases of emergency management will also be examined and how they relate to this specific shooting. Also to be noted will be the inconsistencies in the emergency response as portrayed by the media. In the midst of the official report of the Sandy Hook shooting being issued on November 25, 2013, the incident and the subsequent emergency response can now be critically examined.

On December 14, 2012 at approximately 9:35 am, the Newtown, CT Police Department received an emergency 9-1-1 call for an active shooter at the Sandy Hook Elementary School where 456 children were enrolled. Within in the next four to twenty minutes, the first police officers and first-responders were on scene in what would evolve into a deadly school shooting. It was reported that a twenty year old male, named Adam Lanza, entered the school with an assault rifle and two handguns. He then shot and killed twenty young students, six adults; and also wounded an additional two victims all within eleven minutes. Lanza then took his own life upon police arrival. Sandy Hook was one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history ("Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting"-2013).

Let us now explore the emergency response to this incident. There are four phases to any disaster situation: Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. As for mitigation and preparedness, FEMA conducted four trainings in December 2012 including the day of the Sandy Hook shooting. The course (FEMA L-366) was entitled, "Planning for the Needs of Children in Disasters." The course was offered four times in Connecticut, less than twenty miles from the Sandy Hook Elementary School.

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It would appear as though mitigation and preparation were being carried out to handle a large scale incident involving children as the course objective was to, "The goal of the course is to enable participants to improve their community's mitigation and emergency operations plan specifically regarding the needs of children. The course will provide them with the information needed to address the unique needs of children prior to, during and following disasters. It will also provide them guidance and direction on how to form coalitions and how to become advocates for the unique needs of children in all aspects of emergency management" (Connecticut Division of Emergency Management).

The release of the emergency response log by the State of Connecticut also allows examination of the response on December 14, 2012. At approximately 9:35 a.m., the first 9-1- 1 calls are received. Newtown and Connecticut State Police are dispatched and supervisors advise that they are responding. During an event of this magnitude, first-responders have many responsibilities.

These responsibilities can include but are not limited to: Protecting the lives and safety of the citizens and other first responders, isolate, contain, and/or limit the spread of any threat, identify the type of agent and/or devices used, identify and establish control zones for the suspected agent used, ensure emergency responders properly follow protocol and have appropriate protective gear, identify the most appropriate treatment for victims, establish victim services, notify emergency personnel, including medical facilities, of dangers and anticipated casualties and proper measures to be followed, notify appropriate state and federal agencies, provide accurate and timely public information, preserve as much evidence as possible to aid in the investigation process, protect critical infrastructure, oversee fatality management, develop and enhance medical EMS, protect property and environment. (Bullock et al. pg. 334)

Knowing the responsibilities of responders and local officials, it is clearly seen that some of these tasks were carried out while others were not. Newtown police strategically responded to the school which was placed in lockdown and a perimeter was established. Mutual assistance aid was requested and the Connecticut State Police from Troop A were en route. It would appear that as stated above, local responders are following, protocol, attempting to protect life, and are establishing control zones. Once on scene officers enter the school and begin a sweep for the active shooter to protect life. Injured and/or deceased victims are observed by officers who request emergency medical services. The suspected shooter is discovered deceased inside the school by police. Information is relayed and fleeing children are intercepted and escorted by police. A local firehouse is used as a staging area and the school parking lot is completely closed off. EMS and Fire are reported to have arrived on location and stage away from the school after the lot was closed.

The children inside the school are then evacuated to police awaiting them outside; meanwhile the school is still reportedly being cleared by officers. Police are reporting a possible second shooter. The public information office for the police department is notified to prepare to inform the public. Meanwhile, it is continually confirmed that there are victims inside the school yet there is no radio traffic of any EMS or medical personnel entering the school. Officers are relaying vehicle registration and firearm serial number information to dispatch. Lanza's address is obtained through his vehicle registration and a supervisor dispatches a team of officer to the residence. SWAT and K-9 officers are still clearing the school and the Sandy Hook Fire House is established as the definitive command post (Connecticut State Police-Major Crimes Unit).

Having reviewed the emergency response to the shooting, there are several aspects that are questionable. We recall the duties of first responders on scene listed above from the course text. Judging from the response, it seems as though responders created a makeshift Incident Command System (ICS) of sorts; functional areas are broken down and a semi- unified command is established on scene among supervisors (Bullock et al pg. 371).

The National Response Framework (NRF) Doctrine of 2008 establishes five key principles for emergency responders to best fulfill their duties. These principles include: Engaged partnership, tiered response, scalable, flexible, and adaptable operational capabilities, unity of effort through unified command, readiness to act (Bullock et al pg. 380). I feel that some of these principles were met. However, the issues with the response in my opinion are that the on scene operations after initial police arrival seem odd. According to the Connecticut State Police log, officers were relaying the fact that there were injured children and victims in the school. However, after having this knowledge, the school was closed off so that no emergency medical personnel had access to the building.

They were instead staged at a different location. Another issue is that the school was in lockdown while police cleared the building. However, there are radio transmissions of police evacuating students to officers outside while they are still clearing the building; and there is a mention of a possible second shooter during this time. There is also much police attention on relaying information about the already deceased shooter to police dispatch and little emphasis on the "victims" in the school that are continually mentioned by officers in the response logs (Connecticut State Police-Major Crimes Unit).

The initial emergency response was within the boundaries of the duties of first- responders as presented by Bullock in the course text. The local officials' duties included activating specialized response teams as required such as crime scene investigators, public health specialists, et cetera. Also, it was their duty to activate mutual aid and assistance agreements as required (Bullock et al pg. 391). It would appear as though these duties were satisfied. It is the actions that occur once a "scene" is established that can lead one baffled as to the thought process of the emergency response and the unified command.

These events as cited above are also not made apparent in any media coverage of the shooting and pose many questions which are left unanswered. Mainstream media accounts of the event did not detail any footage of the actions described above. There is limited footage of children being evacuated, almost no footage of any emergency medical services being performed on any victims, and no security surveillance footage from the school whatsoever although the school's video surveillance system was upgraded just prior to the shooting. Also, there are very limited interviews of survivors of the shooting; and the interviews that were presented in mainstream media are extremely conflicting. This shooting was a mass casualty incident and there is no mention of any mass fatality management procedures with the exception of the media interview of the Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. H. Wayne Carver. Dr.

Carver's media statements left much to be desired and offered little to no insight to any response operations or fatality management. Therefore, the only account that can be examined is the official investigation report and the Connecticut State Police Emergency Responder log which leaves many doubts as to the appropriateness of how the response to the shooting was carried out by the field-level incident command whose duty it was to order proper response, provide on-scene control, dispatch resources, and develop strategies (Bullock et al pg. 398, 408) ("Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting"-2013).

In conclusion, the shooting carried out at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT on December 14, 2012, by Adam Lanza, proved to be one of the most deadly school shootings in U.S. history. With nearly 30 casualties including Lanza, this incident received much media attention, most of which was highly debatable and controversial. With the release of the official Connecticut State Police report and emergency response log there are still many unanswered questions as to the effectiveness of the response; and whether or not the response to the incident followed protocol of established disaster management processes.

References

1. Bullock, J., Haddow, G., & Coppola, D. (2013). Introduction to homeland security. (4th ed., pp. 205-242). Waltham, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.
2. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, (2008). National response framework. Retrieved from website: http://www.fema.gov/pdf/emergency/nrf/nrf-core.pdf Connecticut State Police-Major Crimes Unit (n.d.). Summary of Sandy Hook Shooting Phone
3. Calls and Emergency Response - Document - NYTimes.com. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/11/26/nyregion/26newtownside-timeline.html?_r=1&
4. Connecticut Division of Emergency Management (n.d.). Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. Retrieved from http://www.ct.gov/demhs/ical/calendar.aspmm=12&yyyy=2012&image1.x=13&image1.y=14&calendar_ID=0&showTop=True Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2013, November).
5. Retrieved November 29, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy Hook Elementary_School_shooting

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