UCF educates students, staff with an active-shooter video

Police at the University of Central Florida hope to educate students with a realistic video showing what to do in an active-shooter crisis.

It was posted to the department’s Twitter account Wednesday, showing an actor dressed in black carrying a duffel bag. He walks into a building at the school and pulls out a long gun.

Sgt. Adam Casebolt talks about understanding the three options students and faculty have in a gunman situation: run, hide and fight.

He said the first, best option is to run, then call 911. If that’s not an option, seek shelter, hide and barricade the door. He said fighting only should be used as a last resort.

“I don’t want to scare you. I want to prepare you,” he said. “Whether you’re a student, or a faculty or staff member, take the time to know your surroundings.”

The video shows student actors reacting to the threat and armed officers clearing the building.

Courtney Gilmartin, a spokeswoman for the UCF Police Department, said the video wasn’t in response to any particular threat or event but was created to help inform students in case they are ever faced with an active-shooter situation. The school also created a web page about surviving an active-shooter situation.

The university also offers an hourlong class called “Shots Fired” that takes students through a similar event. Gilmartin said in light of national and international tragedies, the university thought this topic should be addressed in another way.

In 2013, a man planned an attack at UCF, but the plot was foiled after his roommate called 911.

James Oliver Seevakumaran committed suicide but left behind a manifesto that included his plans to use guns and Molotov cocktails on students after he pulled a fire alarm in the Tower 1 dormitory.

“These types of situations are unfortunately impossible to ignore,” Gilmartin said. “… We wanted to give our community a short, compelling secondary training option for understanding what to do in the event of an armed attack.”