Awareness and Preparation: Take time to understand your surroundings and environment before an emergency occurs. Ask yourself, “What if?” questions and develop a plan.

Make a decision, trusting your instincts, to take action to protect yourself to survive the situation. You generally will have three options:

1. Run

Your first priority should be escape.

2. Hide

If you can't run, find a place to hide.

3. Fight

As a last resort, prepare to fight.

• If there is an escape path, attempt to evacuate.
• Evacuate whether others agree to or not.
• Take your cell phone if you can, but leave your belongings behind.
• Help others escape if possible.
• Prevent others from entering the area.
• Call 911 when you are safe.

If you are unable to escape, find a place to hide.

If You Are Inside

• Find a hidden location.
• Lock and/or blockade the door with furniture or other heavy objects.
• Close any blinds and turn off the lights.
• Remain quiet and silence cell phones.
• Spread out from other individuals and move behind available cover.
• Stay on the floor away from doors or windows, and do not peek out to see what may be happening.
• Make a plan with others in the room about what you will do if the shooter enters.
• Make a total commitment to action and act as a team.
• Do whatever is necessary to survive the situation.
• If it is safe to do so, report the location of the assailant.

If You Are Outside

• Drop to the ground immediately, face down, as flat as possible. If within 15–20 feet of a safe place or cover, duck and run to it.
• Move or crawl away from gunfire, trying to utilize any obstructions between you and the gunfire. Remember that many objects may conceal you from sight but may not be bulletproof.
• When you reach a place of relative safety, stay down and do not move. Do not peek or raise your head in an effort to see what may be happening.
• Wait and listen for directions from Samford University Police and/or law enforcement personnel.

As a last resort, you may have to engage a shooter to survive.

• Make a plan and attempt to incapacitate the shooter.
• Act with physical aggression.
• Improvise weapons.
• Make a total commitment to action.
• Do whatever is necessary to survive the situation.

• Call 911 or the University Police at (205) 726-2020. Do not assume that someone else has reported the incident. Be persistent; phones may be jammed.
• Calmly identify yourself and your exact location. Remain calm and answer the dispatcher’s questions. The dispatcher is trained to obtain the necessary information for an appropriate emergency response.
• If you can, describe the criminal. Note height, weight, gender, race, approximate age, clothing, method and direction of travel, and the criminal's name, if known.
• If the suspect is entering a vehicle and it is safe to do so, note the license plate number, make and model, color, and outstanding characteristics.

• The priority of the first responders is to identify the shooter. Law enforcement will need to ensure that you are not the shooter.
• Do not run at them or make sudden movements.
• Do not scream, yell, point or wave your arms.
• Do not hold anything in your hands that could be mistaken for a weapon (including cell phones).
• Be quiet and compliant.
• Show the officers your empty hands and follow their instructions.
• Tell the officers the number of shooters.
• Give the location and physical description of the shooters.
• Give the number and types of weapons.
• You will be given instructions as to how to exit your location once it is safe to do so.