Following the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, Tennessee on March 27, 2023, JP Guilbault, CEO of Navigate360 and an authority on active shooter response training, was sought for insights on the police response to the incident. Guilbault commended the Metro Nashville Police Department for their swift action and emphasized the importance of prevention as the ultimate objective in striving for zero incidents.
This story originally appeared in Scripps News, on March 28, 2023. Read the full article here.
The sharp contrast between responses to Uvalde and Nashville shootings
What was different about the law enforcement response to Nashville and Uvalde mass shootings?
Jamal Andress
The school shooting in Nashville Monday, and the swift local law enforcement response, has drawn a sharp contrast to what some are calling the bungled police response in Uvalde, Texas less than a year ago.
“We hoped this day would never ever come, but will never wait to make entry to go in and stop a threat,” said Chief John Drake, with the Metro Nashville Police Department.
According to Nashville police, the first 911 call came in at 10:13am. 15 minutes later the shooter was dead.
Body camera video shows three officers going room by room looking for the gunman. The officers then hear gunfire upstairs and move towards the sound, before ultimately shooting and killing the suspect less than four minutes after they entered the building.
JP Guilbault is the CEO of Navigate 360, which offers active shooter response training.
“There was a coordinated playbook and tactical response that was well outlined and procedurally executed by the Nashville Police Department,” Guilbault said. “The threat was remediated within minutes which saved lives. There was no indecision. There was first on scene response, and it was swift.”
By contrast, even 10 months later, it’s unclear where the breakdown in communication at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas came from — but the result was more than 370 officers waiting an hour and 14 minutes before breaching the classroom door and killing the shooter.
“First on scene, move to the to the suspect, apprehend or remedy that suspect inoperable. That is the clear playbook. That did not happen at Columbine, that did not happen to Uvalde. That is the playbook to remediate and protect lives,” Guilbault said.
Parents from Uvalde reacted to the Nashville school shooting on social media — expressing their outrage and calling for change.
Another parent who experienced the horror of a mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois and was simply visiting Tennessee, spoke out shortly after a police press conference ended.
“How is this still happening? How are our children still dying? And how are we still failing them?” said Ashbey Beasley.
Guilbault says while effective police response to an active shooter is important, it’s not the goal. The goal is prevention.
“The best way to prevent this incident, or these types of incidents from ever happening, is to have someone recognize the signs and share their alertness and their concern. If there’s even just a half percent chance, you have to take action,” Guilbault said.
Police say the shooter legally bought seven firearms and hid the guns from their parents before the attack at the Covenant School in Nashville.
Proactive Threat Assessment & Prevention Solutions for Schools That Work Better Together
Ensuring the safety and well-being of all students, teachers and staff is a top priority for all school leaders. Empowering a culture of safety begins with proactive protocols to identify and address concerning behaviors before they escalate and supporting students who express intent to harm themselves or others.
Learn more about our suite of threat assessment and intervention tools that help you:
- Anonymously source reports of concern from your community
- Aggregate intel from additional digital sources, such as email and social media
- Analyze, screen, manage and collaborate with threat assessment teams
