SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Qualcomm hosted InfraGard San Diego’s Active Shooter and Workplace Violence Prevention Summit at its headquarters in Sorrento Valley on Wednesday.
The summit is the first of its kind and is meant to help security stakeholders in San Diego prepare for the potential of an active shooter situation.
Several speakers from different law enforcement agencies and private industries provided a variety of topic discussions, perspectives and helpful tips.
The speakers have different backgrounds, but one thing they share is the message they’re trying to send to the community: Preparation is key.
“It's OK to talk about the subject,” said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Brady Finta. “It's OK to think it through, it's OK to insist that other people in your business, in your community, actually prepare for this.”
If you find yourself in the vicinity of an active shooter, Finta said one of the most important things to keep in mind is run, fight, hide.
The FBI encourages people to run to get away from the area, hide and barricade yourself and, if need be, fight.
“This could happen to any one of us at any time,” said Finta.
Dr. Reid Meloy, a forensic psychologist, pointed out that spotting and reporting unusual behavior can go a long way. He said many times people worry about reporting something or someone if they are not fully sure they pose a threat.
“What we're looking is behaviors that are suspicious and unusual that come to your attention and then to report them to the authorities so they can be checked out,” said Meloy.
More than 500 people filled Qualcomm’s Irwin Jacobs Hall for the summit which began at 8:30 a.m. and will go through 4 p.m.
Below is a list of the speakers and topics:
-- The Active Shooter Threat: Then and Now – Joseph Ramos, Chief of Police, San Diego Community College District and retired Captain and SWAT Commander, San Diego Police Dept.
-- First-Person Perspective: Inside the San Ysidro McDonald’s Massacre – Retired Lieutenant Ray Shay, San Diego Police Dept.
-- Inside the 2017 Las Vegas Mass Shooting: An Officer’s Firsthand Account – Officer Tom McGrath, San Diego Police Dept.
-- Warning Behaviors and Threat Assessment of the Targeted Attacker – Dr. Reid Meloy, Forensic Psychologist; Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UC San Diego School of Medicine
-- Social Media Exploitation – SOS Emily Ta, FBI San Diego
-- Workplace Violence Prevention – Jeff McKinney, Senior Manager, Global Security, Qualcomm
-- Run, Hide, Fight – SSA Brady Finta, FBI San Diego and Jeff McKinney, Qualcomm
-- What To Expect: The Police Response – Sergeant Josh DaFoe, Mass Threat Unit, San Diego Police Dept.
-- Stop the Bleed – Brad Woods, SWAT Team Leader, FBI San Diego
-- The First 24 Hours: Considerations Immediately Following an Active Shooter – Lamine Secka, Director, Office of Emergency Preparedness, San Diego State University
-- Legal Considerations for Businesses – Mhairi Marsh, Attorney, Qualcomm
-- Government and Community Resources – SD-LECC, PERT, Family Justice Center, Anthem.
