Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 5 September 2024

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters.

FB-ISAO Announces a New Educational Series: Standing Up Security Teams

Security Teams are an essential component of any security program. Building a security team to safeguard people is crucial for any house of worship. The Faith-Based Information Sharing and Analysis Organization is hosting a series of discussions on how to effectively create, develop, and manage a security team. Participants will learn best practices, strategies, and practical tips to ensure their security team is well-equipped to handle a variety of challenges.

The program sessions include:

• Is a security team right for us? And how to approach leadership
• Standing up a Security leadership team
• The importance of risk analysis coupled with a safety and security operations program
• Selecting and recruiting an operational team
• The skills and ideas that go into training an operational team
• And finally, when a security team is not possible – what can be done?

Sessions begin on 06 November 2024 at 12pm ET and are held every first Wednesday of the month. Members need only register once for all sessions!

Members of FB-ISAO! Register Here.

Not a member? Not a problem! Register Here. If you don’t know if you are a member or not, please write to [email protected].

Georgia: Apalachee High School Shooting:

• 14-Year-Old School Shooter Kills Four and Wounds Nine. At least four people are dead and several others wounded after a shooter opened fire at a rural high school in Georgia, authorities said Wednesday. The shooter was identified as (name omitted), a 14-year-old Apalachee High School student who launched his attack just before 10:30 a.m. local time, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said at an afternoon news conference. (Name omitted) “immediately surrendered” and was taken into custody alive, GBI Director Chris Hosey said. He will be charged with murder and tried as an adult. Hosey confirmed that the victims were two students, two teachers. Nine other people were wounded and rushed to area hospitals, he said.
• At least nine people were injured. Here’s what else to know. All of the victims who were at the hospital were expected to survive their injuries, Mr. Hosey said. The suspect had been on the radar of law enforcement officials more than a year ago in connection with threats of a school shooting posted online, the F.B.I. said. He and his father were interviewed by local law enforcement officials; he denied making the threats, but the authorities alerted local schools.
• FBI Atlanta Statement on Incident at Apalachee High School. In May 2023, the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time. The online threats contained photographs of guns. Within 24 hours, the FBI determined the online post originated in Georgia, and the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office referred the information to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for action. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office located a possible subject, a 13-year-old male, and interviewed him and his father. The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them. The subject denied making the threats online. Jackson County alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject. At that time, there was no probable cause for arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state, or federal levels.
• Georgia High School Received Threat Warning Of Shooting Before Gunman Opened Fire: Report. Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, received a threatening phone call Wednesday morning warning of shootings at five high schools, including Apalachee, before a gunman opened fire and killed at least four people.
• What we know about the Georgia high school shooting
• Georgia students evacuated from hallway where deadly mass shooting took place — with killer’s gun still on the floor: chilling video
• Alleged mass shooter left class, asked to be let back in locked room before opening fire in Georgia high school massacre: student
• FBI Received Tips About The Georgia High School Shooter Last Year

Related Articles:

• Hamilton County student arrested after threatening texts involving explosive, bullets
• Teenager shot and wounded at Swedish school, suspect apprehended, police say

Analyst Comments:

Tragically, another school shooting has taken place. Faith-Based Organizations (FBO) that operate schools should consider reviewing the incident to possibly improve their school’s security posture.

Initial reports are that the shooter was stopped by law enforcement officers (School Resource Officer-SRO) assigned in the school. Also, federal and local law enforcement had contact with the shooter prior to the incident. Initial reports can be useful but security-posture development should consider After-Action Reports and other material developed after a full investigation.

Gate 15’s White Paper: The Hostile Event Attack Cycle (HEAC) details the identifiable actions that a potential attacker takes prior to an attack. Looking for these actions can help break the cycle before the attack occurs. (PDF)

CISA’s Physical Security Performance Goals for Faith-Based Communities is a good resource for FBOs to evaluate their facility’s physical security. The document also provides guidance and tools to improve security.

The following resources may also be useful:

• The CISA Active Shooter Emergency Action Plan Product Suite website provides the Active-Shooter-Emergency-Action-Plan and Active-Shooter-Emergency-Action-Plan-Template
• FEMA provides the Guide for Developing High-Quality Emergency Operations Plans for Houses of Worship.
• Multiple resources can be found at CISA’s Protecting Houses of Worship
• FBI: Active Shooter Safety Resources
• MCB Mosque Safety and Security Guidance | Muslim Council of Britain
• FEMA’s 5 Simple Steps to Save a Life | FEMA’s Until Help Arrives website provides information for bystanders.

As always, Faith-Based ISAO’s website provides resources in the Resource Library, including information on Securing Facilities and People.