A mass shooting incident took over on October 21, 2012, at the Azana Spa in Wisconsin, USA. Three people succumbed to the shots and four more were wounded.

The shooter is said to have arrived at the Azana Spa at around 11.09 a.m. After investigation it was found that the motive was fired by a personal dispute between the shooter and his estranged wife who used to work at the spa. Out of the victims who were slain, one was the estranged wife of the shooter. After 11:22 a.m. he died by suicide by a self-inflicted wound. A former US marine, the shooter had been issued a restraining order on the usage of firearms.

This shooting sparked efforts to fight for stricter domestic abuse prevention and stricter gun laws.

Active shooting incidents fit into the ambit of terrorism to a greater extent than it is actually being accepted. However, there might be distinctive motives or different intensity, but active shooting stands true to the definition of terrorism. The cruelty an incident of mass shooting brings is definitely an act of terrorism.

However, not all acts of Active Shooting is related to terrorism as we know it today, every such incident is an act of terrorism in itself. As the definition of terrorism varies from state to state and country to country, one factor remains constant – the terror that the victims go through. Although not purely related to terrorism, Active Shooting incidents have the same intensity and possess the same, if not more, threat to the world, that is, of mass killing and loss of lives and peace of humanity.

It still remains a mystery as to why these incidents take place or why these shooters choose to commit such a sinful crime as most of the shooter, especially in US shootings kill themselves after executing the act of cruelty and inhumanity. Some experts believe the feeling of being an outcast or bullying incidents that might give rise to a raging, aggressive and rebellious behavior finally results in the progression of feeling of revenge in the minds of shooters leading to such incidents. Some shooters might even consider themselves to be saviors and treat the shooting as their act of saving the victims from the hardships of the world and the universe. What remains constant is their history of mental illness (at least in most of the cases).

Active Shootings affect the society just as bad as terrorism. The need to have better and stricter laws when it comes to the usage of guns and restrictions on it, especially in countries such as USA where these incidents have tripled in the last few decades.

The magnitude of Columbine shooting is felt till date. The impact it had psychologically and mentally on people was devastating. The curiosity regarding the original Columbine High Shooting was seen turning into an obsession for many (especially teenagers) who considered the incident to be an important event and treated columbine High School as their place of pilgrimage and the shooters their mentors.
The fact, no matter how disturbing it is, remains that the Columbine High Shootings influenced and started a series of school shootings and sadly continues to do so. Glorifying the shooters of Columbine has been leads to transformation into actions that turn out to be deadly and murderous which costs the lives of many including children and educators, such as, the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting or the Virginia Tech Shooting.
The Columbine High Shooting that claimed the lives of 12 students and one educators continued to kill individuals by influencing people and generation who suffered either from mental illnesses such as depression, suicidal thoughts or found themselves to be connected to the Columbine Shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold as a loner or outcasts.
The Columbine effect changed American Schools forever. New security measures regarding Active Shooters were adopted by school across the US. Transparent backpacks, school uniforms, metal detectors and so forth. Threatening behavior or possession of weapons by students was made an absolute no-go at schools or any other educational institutions. Bullying policies were renewed by a number of schools.

The attempted bombing and the shooting that took place in April 20, 1999 in Columbine High School in Columbine where two shooters (both students of the school) killed 12 students and an educator, leaving 21 injured. During that period of time, the Columbine shooting was considered as one of the deadliest mass and school shootings of all times and continued to influence several other shootings such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting and more for years to come, known as the Columbine Effect.

The deadly rampage was carried on by the two shooter armed with guns and an arsenal of home-made bombs. They fatally shot several students in the school library before killing themselves.

The campus of Virginia Tech University was engulfed in tragedy and tears on the morning of April 16, 2007. Stated as one of the most stunningly incomprehensible incident of Active Shooting in US, 31 individuals lost their lives. The campus of Virginia Tech University was engulfed in tragedy and tears on the morning of April 16, 2007. Stated as one of the most stunningly incomprehensible incident of Active Shooting in US, 31 individuals lost their lives.
Panic ensued when a lone gunmen entered the Virginia Tech campus at around 7:30 in the morning and started firing at everyone. What left everyone utterly shocked was the fact that the shooter was a student of Virginia Tech. Apart from the physical damage it does, there is no way to quantify the mental or psychological damage it does to the victims and their closed ones. The shooting in total comprised of 2 attacks. The first attack killed 2 people while the second one claimed the lived of 30 more and left more than a dozen seriously wounded. The deadliest school shooting in US history, Virginia Tech Shooting gaining global support and outreach towards those who lost their lives and the survivors.
Till date, Virginia Tech shootings continues to terrify the US as the aftermath of it is still not over.

Panic ensued when a lone gunmen entered the Virginia Tech campus at around 7:30 in the morning and started firing at everyone. What left everyone utterly shocked was the fact that the shooter was a student of Virginia Tech. Apart from the physical damage it does, there is no way to quantify the mental or psychological damage it does to the victims and their closed ones. The shooting in total comprised of 2 attacks. The first attack killed 2 people while the second one claimed the lived of 30 more and left more than a dozen seriously wounded. The deadliest school shooting in US history, Virginia Tech Shooting gaining global support and outreach towards those who lost their lives and the survivors.
Till date, Virginia Tech shootings continues to terrify the US as the aftermath of it is still not over.

Active Shooting incidents have been terrifying US since decades. From schools, universities to medical facilities, government holdings etc. nothing has been spared by Active Shooters. Active Shooters are individuals that actively engage in attempting to kill or actually killing people in a populated area.

An Active Shooter incident occurs when an active shooter enters a populated place and begins to open fire or attempts to kill the individuals present there. Such incidents are traumatic. Both for the victims, the survivors and their near and dear ones. As Active Shooter incidents generally last for 10-15 minutes before law enforcement reaches the scene, the individuals present at the scene need to be mentally and prepared to deal with the situation until help arrives.

During such situations, it becomes very crucial to have a mental plan. Identifying the exits if one is trapped in an unfamiliar building is also an important. The individuals present at the scene must offer as many possible details to 911 as possible and warn others of danger. They must relay any important information to the law enforcement personnel.

Apart from handling the situation with a composed mind, one must always be ready to fight in an Active Shooter incident but only as a last resort. Such incidents leave a never-ending scar on the victims and survivors. Some deadly mass shootings that occurred in USA in the last few decade were the Las Vegas Shooting, 2017 (60 killed), Orlando Night Club Shooting, 2016 (49 killed), Virginia Tech Shooting, 2007 (32 killed) and Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting, 2012 (27 killed including 20 children). These are some of the deadliest mass shootings that claimed most lives in the history of US. The fact that all the shooters took their own lives after committing the horrendous crime makes these events more gut-wrenching.

A mass-shooting incident includes fire-related violence that scars the victims for their entire lives. US is said to have had more Active Shooting incidents than any other country. Studies have indicated that such incidents have been consistently rising since 2011.

On March 22, 2021, Monday, Boulder, Colorado was shocked by an Active Shooter incident in the King Soopers grocery store in which 10 people were killed including a police officer, customers and employees of the grocery store.

The motive behind the shooting still remains unclear. These shooting incident has once again raised serious questions over the gun regulating laws in US. The shooting started shortly after 2:30 p.m., when the gunman entered the parking area of the King Snoopers supermarket and opened fire at the people. At least 115 people are said to have been present inside the supermarket during the shootings including families that were present to take their Covid-19 vaccines.

The suspect was found mentally incompetent to stand on legal trails in December, 2021.

On October 1^st, 2017, the Las Vegas Shooting known as of the deadliest mass shootings in the history of US left the country in shock. A 64 year-old man, Stephen Paddock fired upon the crowd that was attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Nevada. The open fire killed 60 people and wounded 411. The panic that followed took the number of wounded civilians to 867.

The shooting still remains bizarre as the shooter took his own life shortly after the shooting. The reason for shooting and such step taken by him still remains a mystery. The shooting is said to have started at 10:00 p.m. and went on till 10:15 p.m. on October 1^st, 2017. This was the 3^rd and final night of the music festival. It is reported that most of the audience mistook the shootings as either firework or something that the DJ had played, at first. Over the span of 10 minutes along with momentary pauses, the shooter shot 1000 bullets.

As this devastating shooting claimed the lives of many, the aftermath of this incident witnessed heart-warming unity in the community. With support pouring in from all directions, individuals lined up to donate blood and millions of dollars were donated to help the victims of this devastating incident.

An active shooter incident can arise anytime and catch the victims off-guard. The need is to tackle the situation tactically while keeping your mind calm. Preparedness is of utmost importance in such situation.

This extremely unpredictable situation requires people to handle the situation mindfully. Panicking in such situation would only worsen it. Some tips or practices that could help an individual in such situation is being aware of the surroundings, any possible danger and the all emergency or non-emergency exists. If it is not possible for you to head to either exist during the incident, the best alternative is to find a room and secure it close. Silent your cell phones and make sure the door is completely locked and barricaded. Try to stay away from the assaulters as much as possible. Run if needed. This increases your chance of survival many folds as running makes you a harder target to shoot. Fight, only when it’s the last resort. Don’t fight fair and try to take control of the arm because once you gain control on the arms and ammunitions the shooters are using, you gain control on their activity and are able to save lives.

Your response is what matters the most during an Active Shooter incident.