School: Minister Destiny Testimony Schools Track: Adult Class: Topic Library — Year 1 (Foundations) Founded and presented by: Muslim Ordained Minister Destiny Marie Morgan
This lesson is educational information, Massachusetts-first, and is not legal advice. Laws and procedures vary by state and by case. If you are in danger right now, call 911. If you have a real case, talk to a lawyer — legal aid organizations help many people for free.
Before you start
- This school never asks your name. Your progress is saved only in your own browser on this device — the school collects and keeps nothing. If you pass this unit's quiz (80% or higher, retakes allowed), you earn a downloadable certificate with a blank line — you write your own name on it after you save it. Quiz answers are not shown; if you miss a question, re-read the lesson and try again.
- This unit teaches only the official public curriculum — the FBI's and the Department of Homeland Security's "Run. Hide. Fight." guidance and CISA's preparedness materials, written for ordinary people. It contains no tactical instruction and nothing an attacker could use. Its tone is deliberate: these events are rare, they are survivable, and a plan learned calmly, in advance, is the whole point of the training.
The lesson
Part 1. What this training is — and what it is not
The FBI defines an active shooter as an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area. The defining features are that the attack is happening now, in a place where people gather, and that the people present — not only responders — will make the first decisions. That is why the federal government publishes a public curriculum at all: in the first minutes, the people already there are the response, and a person who has thought about the options beforehand acts faster and more clearly than a person meeting the idea for the first time.
Two honest facts frame everything else. First, these events are rare — far rarer than the fires, crashes, and medical emergencies this school also teaches about — and this unit is not a reason to move through the world afraid. Second, rarity is not the same as unpreparedness: the same calm logic that puts a fire exit in your mind when you enter a theater can hold an escape route in your mind anywhere, at almost no cost. This training is that habit, extended. It is awareness and decision-making — never weapons instruction, never tactics, and never a substitute for your workplace's or school's own emergency plan, which always governs where you actually are.
Part 2. Awareness before anything happens — exits, attention, and reporting what worries you
Preparedness in the official guidance is mostly ordinary attention, practiced early.
Know your exits. Ready.gov's advice is simple enough to become reflex: wherever you go — work, worship, a store, an event — notice the two nearest exits and keep a rough escape path in mind, including for anyone with you who has a disability or other access need. You are not casing the building; you are doing what you already do for fire, without the alarm.
Notice behavior, and report it. Prevention in the federal materials is behavioral, not profiling. CISA's preparedness guidance lists potential warning signs such as increasingly erratic, unsafe, or aggressive behavior; hostile claims of injustice or grievance; dramatic changes in personality, home life, or work performance; and statements of retribution or intent to harm. No single sign predicts anything, and most people who show one are in crisis, not planning violence — which is exactly why the guidance routes concern to help: report observed behavior through your workplace's, school's, or community's reporting channels, or to law enforcement when a threat seems immediate, so that trained behavioral threat assessment professionals can evaluate and, where possible, intervene with support long before any attack. The research behind this — the FBI's work on the pathway to violence, the observable steps a person moves along before an attack — exists so that intervention can happen early, at the grievance and planning stages, when help still works. "If you see something, say something" is not a slogan about suspicion of strangers; it is this reporting habit, applied to specific behavior you actually observed.
Have the workplace conversation in peacetime. CISA urges every organization to maintain an emergency action plan that covers this scenario alongside fire and weather: how people will be alerted in plain language, what the response options are, how everyone is accounted for afterward, and how the organization will communicate and recover. If your workplace has one, learn it. If it does not, Part 6 points to the free federal template that builds one.
Part 3. Run — the first option, whenever it is open
The federal curriculum orders the options deliberately, and Run is first: if there is a safe escape path away from the danger, take it.
Run means: get away from the threat as your top priority — distance is safety. Leave your belongings behind; nothing you own is worth the seconds it costs. Help others escape if you can do so without delaying your own escape, and warn people you pass not to enter the area — but evacuate even if others hesitate or refuse to follow; you cannot carry a decision for someone else. Call 911 when you are safe, and give what you know: the location, a description of the person if you saw one, and any weapon you actually saw — facts, not guesses. If you cannot speak safely, the Massachusetts guidance this school teaches elsewhere applies: leave the line open, or text where text-to-911 is supported, rather than making noise that endangers you.
Notice what Run does not include: investigating the sound, filming it, gathering people first, or retrieving a bag. The curriculum is blunt because the seconds are real — but it is also, read carefully, permission: leaving immediately is not cowardice or abandonment. It is the trained response, the one that gives responders a scene they can enter and gives you a life from which to help afterward.
Part 4. Hide — when running is not possible
If escape is not possible — the danger is between you and the exit, or you do not know where it is — the second option is Hide: get out of view and put barriers between you and the threat.
Hiding, in the official guidance, is active, not passive. Choose a place out of the attacker's view, ideally a room that can be locked and blocked — lock the door, and barricade it with whatever heavy furniture the room holds. Close blinds, turn off lights, and silence everything: phones fully silenced, not on vibrate, and no talking. Spread out rather than clustering if several people are hiding, so one discovery is not everyone's. Communicate silently if you can — a text, or a sign in an exterior window — and stay in place until law enforcement gives the all-clear, because movement during an active response endangers you and confuses the responders searching for the attacker. While you hide, think — about where the exits from this room are, and about Part 5, so that if the worst reaches your door you have already decided, rather than deciding in panic.
Part 5. Fight — the last resort only, and what to expect when police arrive
Fight is the curriculum's third word, and its condition is absolute: only as a last resort, only when your life is in immediate danger and neither running nor hiding is possible. The guidance is intentionally brief and general: act with others if you can, commit fully to disrupting and stopping the attacker, and use whatever ordinary objects are at hand. This school adds nothing to that — no techniques, no detail — because the official curriculum itself treats this as an act of desperate self-preservation, not a skill to rehearse, and because the honest statistical truth of the guidance is that Run and Hide are where nearly all survival happens.
The other half of this Part is what happens when responders arrive, and it is pure safety procedure. Officers' first task is to stop the attack, which means they may move past injured people, shout commands, and treat everyone as unknown until the scene is sorted. Protect yourself inside that reality: keep your hands visible and empty, follow instructions exactly and immediately, do not run toward officers or grab at them, and evacuate in the direction they direct when told. Anything you know — the attacker's location, description, direction of travel — is valuable after you are clear, offered calmly at the reunification point, not shouted across an active scene.
Part 6. After — safety first, care for the injured, reunification, and recovery
When the danger ends, the incident does not. The official guidance continues into four kinds of work.
Account and reunify. Organizations gather people at a pre-planned reunification point away from the scene, account for everyone, and release people — especially children — through a controlled process to family. If you were present, go to that point and stay reachable; leaving silently creates a search for a person who is actually safe.
Care for the injured, when it is safe. FEMA's You Are the Help Until Help Arrives training — named in the federal materials — teaches the general principle: once the scene is safe, ordinary people can help the wounded with basic first aid and by guiding responders to them, until professionals take over. Help only from safety; a second victim helps no one.
Expect investigation and say what you know. The scene is a crime scene. Give your statement, keep any photos or messages you have, and do not post speculation — families learn of deaths from the internet in these events, and restraint is a form of care.
Recovery is a phase, planned in advance. CISA publishes a recovery guide alongside its preparedness materials because the aftermath — grief, trauma symptoms, fear of the place itself, media attention — is predictable enough to prepare for. Normal reactions after an abnormal event include trouble sleeping, intrusive memories, and numbness; support through employers, faith communities, counselors, and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) is part of the official picture, not an afterthought. Organizations recover better when Part 2's plan already named who communicates with families, what support is offered, and how operations resume — which is the final argument for doing this work in peacetime: the plan you write calmly is the plan that carries people through the worst day and the months after it.
Words to know — Active Shooter Awareness Training
- Active shooter incident — an attack in progress in which an individual is actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area, per the FBI's definition.
- Run, Hide, Fight — the federal public-response curriculum, in order: escape if you safely can; hide if you cannot; act to stop the attacker only as a last resort when your life is in immediate danger.
- Situational awareness — the calm habit of noticing your surroundings — exits, people, changes — as you move through ordinary places.
- Emergency action plan — an organization's written plan for emergencies, covering alerts, response options, accounting for people, communication, and recovery.
- Behavioral threat assessment — the professional process of evaluating reported concerning behavior to determine whether a person poses a risk and what support or intervention is appropriate.
- Pathway to violence — the observable progression of behavior — grievance, violent ideas, planning, preparation — that research finds precedes targeted attacks, and at which intervention can occur.
- Reunification point — the pre-planned location away from a scene where people are accounted for and released to family through a controlled process.
- All-clear — the official notice from law enforcement that the immediate danger has ended and people may come out of hiding or return.
- Access and functional needs — the needs of people with disabilities and others that an emergency plan must include — mobility, communication, medication, and assistance — from the start.
Myths vs facts — Active Shooter Awareness Training
- Myth: This training exists because these attacks are common. Fact: They are rare. The training exists because the first decisions are made by the people present, and a simple plan learned in advance — the same logic as fire exits — measurably improves outcomes.
- Myth: "Fight" is the heroic core of the curriculum. Fact: The order is the teaching. Run first, Hide second, Fight only as a last resort when life is in immediate danger and no other option exists (Parts 3–5).
- Myth: If I run and leave others behind, I have failed them. Fact: The federal guidance directs you to evacuate even if others refuse to follow, and to warn people on your way out. A survivor at the reunification point with information helps; an additional victim does not.
- Myth: Warning signs let ordinary people spot a future attacker. Fact: Signs are reasons to report behavior to professionals who can assess and offer help — most people showing them are in crisis, not planning violence. Reporting is a route to intervention, not an accusation (Part 2).
- Myth: When police arrive, I should run to them and explain what happened. Fact: Keep hands visible and empty, follow commands exactly, and share what you know calmly once you are clear. Responders must stop the attack before they can sort identities (Part 5).
Think it through — Active Shooter Awareness Training
The situation: You are in a large store when you hear sharp bangs from the front of the building and people begin running from that direction, shouting. You are near the back with a coworker who freezes and says, "We should go see what it is — maybe it's nothing." Your phone is in your hand and your bag is in a locker near the front.
Walk it through: (1) Decide with Part 1: an attack in progress is exactly the condition this training covers; "maybe it's nothing" is resolved by distance, not investigation — you do not go toward the sound to check. (2) Run (Part 3): you are near the back, where stockroom and rear exits typically are — take the escape path away from the front, leave the bag in its locker without a thought, pull your coworker with you if she will come but do not remain in danger arguing if she refuses, and warn anyone you pass heading forward. (3) Call from safety (Part 3): once outside and away, call 911 with the location and only what you actually know — sounds from the front, people fleeing — not a description you invented. (4) If the rear exit had been blocked, the plan changes by the curriculum's own logic (Part 4): a lockable stockroom, silenced phones, lights off, barricade, wait for the all-clear. (5) Afterward (Part 6): go to the reunification point responders establish, account for yourself so no one searches for you, and give your statement there.
Cases & codes to study — Active Shooter Awareness Training
This topic is a skill taught from official public guidance, not a legal subject — there are no cases or codes to study for it. What governs it is the federal guidance itself:
The guidance itself — read the real words
- FBI — Active Shooter Safety Resources (Federal Bureau of Investigation) — the Bureau's public page for the Run. Hide. Fight. curriculum, its training videos for open spaces, indoor spaces, and schools, and its ASAPP (Active Shooter Attack Prevention and Preparedness) training for civilians. Read it: https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/active-shooter-safety-resources/
- CISA — Planning and Response to an Active Shooter: An Interagency Security Committee Policy and Best Practices Guide (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) — the interagency guide for facility planning: plain-language alerts, the Run/Hide/Fight options, and planning across prevention, protection, response, and recovery. Read it: https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/Planning%20and%20Response%20to%20an%20Active%20Shooter_2021.pdf
- Ready.gov — Attacks in Public Places / Active Shooter (Federal Emergency Management Agency) — the plain-language public page: be informed, make a plan, Run/Hide/Fight during, and be safe after, including hands visible and following law enforcement instructions. Read it: https://www.ready.gov/publicspaces
Where to read the real thing, free: the FBI's active shooter resources at fbi.gov (https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/active-shooter-safety-resources/); CISA's preparedness materials at cisa.gov; Ready.gov at ready.gov (https://www.ready.gov/publicspaces).
Try this — Active Shooter Awareness Training
- ☐ For one week, practice the Part 2 habit: in every public place you enter, silently note the two nearest exits.
- ☐ Find out whether your workplace, school, or house of worship has an emergency action plan, and read the part that applies to you.
- ☐ Watch the FBI's Run. Hide. Fight. training video for the setting closest to your daily life, at the FBI page in Cases & Codes.
- ☐ Write your family's version: where you would meet (a reunification point) if you were separated during any emergency away from home.
- ☐ Save the reporting route now: the number or office your workplace or school designates for concerning behavior, before you ever need it.
Resources to keep — Active Shooter Awareness Training
- 911 — if you are in danger right now, or a threat seems immediate.
- FBI — fbi.gov — Active Shooter Safety Resources: the Run. Hide. Fight. videos and ASAPP training.
- CISA — cisa.gov — active shooter preparedness, emergency action plan, and recovery guidance for workplaces, schools, and houses of worship.
- Ready.gov — Attacks in Public Places: the plain-language plan for before, during, and after.
- 988 (call or text) — support after any traumatic event, for you or someone you are worried about.
What you earned / what's next — Active Shooter Awareness Training
✅ Active Shooter Awareness Training complete (quiz score 80% or higher): You can state what the official curriculum is and where it comes from, practice the awareness habits that precede any incident, order and explain Run, Hide, and Fight correctly, describe how to behave when responders arrive, and name the reunification, care, and recovery steps that follow.
Your certificate
Minister Destiny Testimony Schools Certificate of Completion — Active Shooter Awareness Training
This certificate is presented by Muslim Ordained Minister Destiny Marie Morgan
Awarded to: ______________________________ (write your name here after you download — your name is never collected or stored by this school)
Date completed: ______________
Congratulations. You hold a calm plan for a frightening subject — learned in peacetime, in the open, from the same guidance the professionals publish for everyone. May you never need it, and may it steady you if you do. — Minister Destiny Marie Morgan
This is a certificate of educational completion from Minister Destiny Testimony Schools. It is not a state license, a government certification, or legal training for representing anyone.
What's next: Return to the Topic Library for your next Year 1 Foundations unit.
Sources
- Active Shooter Safety Resources — Federal Bureau of Investigation (https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/active-shooter-safety-resources/) — the FBI's definition, ASAPP civilian training, and Run. Hide. Fight. training videos and principles.
- Planning and Response to an Active Shooter: An Interagency Security Committee Policy and Best Practices Guide — Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/Planning%20and%20Response%20to%20an%20Active%20Shooter_2021.pdf) — facility planning, plain-language alerts, and the prevention-to-recovery continuum.
- Active Shooter Preparedness Action Guide — Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (cisa.gov) — behavioral warning signs and the reporting habit, as published in CISA's preparedness guidance.
- Attacks in Public Places / Active Shooter — Ready.gov, Federal Emergency Management Agency (https://www.ready.gov/publicspaces) — the public before/during/after guidance, including exit planning and conduct when law enforcement arrives.
Your Progress — On Your Device Only — Active Shooter Awareness Training
- Learning outcomes: On completing this unit, the student can:
- define an active shooter incident in the FBI's terms and state where the public curriculum comes from;
- describe the awareness habits of Part 2 — exit awareness, behavioral warning signs, and reporting to threat-assessment channels;
- state the Run, Hide, Fight options in order, with the conditions that govern each;
- describe safe conduct when law enforcement arrives;
- name the after-incident steps: reunification, care for the injured from safety, statements, and recovery support.
- Study time: Approximately 1 hour — an estimate covering reading, activities, and the test. Students move at their own pace.
- Assessment: A 10-question test drawn only from this unit's lesson. 80% or higher passes and earns the unit certificate. Answers are not shown; your score is saved only in your own browser on this device, and retakes are allowed.
- Level: Topic Library — Year 1 (Foundations) · Adult school · working rank on completion path: Freshman → Sophomore.
- Version: Version 1.0 — October 2026.
Minister Destiny Testimony Schools — Adult. Educational information only, not legal advice. Help lines: 911 for emergencies · 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call/text 988).