A noise that sounds like gunfire is not the time to wait for someone else to decide what is happening, two Estes Park police officers told residents Thursday.
It is the time to move.
Sgt. Kirk Jellesma and Officer Orlando Trevino delivered that message during a condensed Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events presentation Sept. 3 in the Town Hall boardroom. The training, known as CRASE, teaches civilians to respond to an active attack by following three principles: Avoid, Deny and Defend.
The officers, who have completed the CRASE training program, said preparation cannot eliminate fear, but it can help people move through the shock of a crisis and take action before police arrive.
“It’s just going to be a mindset that we’re trying to get you guys in,” Trevino said. With preparation, he said, a person may be able to remain calm and help someone nearby who is overwhelmed by fear.
Although such incidents are commonly called active-shooter events, Jellesma said the threat is not limited to firearms. An attacker may use a knife, vehicle, bomb, or another weapon in an attempt to kill multiple people.
“An active attack is an attempted mass murder,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be a gun.”
Understanding the body’s response to danger
The officers spent much of the presentation explaining what happens in the mind and body during a crisis. Jellesma described three stages of disaster response: denial, deliberation and the decisive moment.
People may initially dismiss gunfire as fireworks or interpret screams as excitement rather than terror, he said. Once they accept that something is wrong, they must quickly consider their options and choose a course of action.
“The faster you can go through those cycles, the more likely you are to survive,” Jellesma said.
The training encourages people to maintain awareness without living in fear. That can mean noticing exits when entering a restaurant, store, workplace or place of worship and briefly considering another way out if the familiar entrance becomes blocked.
Jellesma called that mental rehearsal “scripting.” First responders use it on the way to calls by considering what they may encounter and how they will respond. Civilians can apply the same practice in everyday places, he said.
“If something starts happening now, what are my choices?” Jellesma said. “Start scripting those things in your head.”
Trevino said the practice can become second nature. A person can note an exit, consider a response and then continue with the day rather than remaining preoccupied with danger.
Avoid, deny and defend
The first and safest response under the CRASE model is to avoid the attacker. People should leave immediately if they can safely do so, put distance between themselves and the threat and use barriers or buildings for protection.
If escape is not possible, the second option is to deny the attacker access. That can include locking and barricading doors with heavy furniture, turning off lights, silencing cellphones, staying out of sight and remaining quiet.
The final option, defend, applies when escape is impossible and an attacker breaches the space. The training calls for aggressive, committed action as a last resort, including using chairs, heavy objects or tools as improvised weapons.
The goal is survival, the officers said — not confronting an attacker when escape remains possible.
“You notice I don’t say go fight the person,” Jellesma told the audience while discussing advance planning. “I say, ‘Which way can I leave?’”
Stress can make even familiar tasks difficult. A frightened person may lose fine motor control, develop tunnel vision or experience auditory exclusion, preventing the person from processing sounds that would ordinarily be obvious. In severe panic, a person may freeze or repeatedly try an action that is not working.
The officers recommended practicing box breathing to help control that response: inhale for four seconds, hold for four, exhale for four and hold again for four before repeating the cycle.
Jellesma said law enforcement officers and other first responders use controlled breathing as they approach high-stress calls. Lowering the heart rate can help restore clearer sight, hearing and thought, but the technique must be practiced before it is needed, he said.
Trevino said box breathing also can be used during ordinary stress, allowing a person to focus on breathing rather than a situation beyond that person’s control.
“Control what you can control, which is yourself,” he said.
The officers also cautioned against waiting for a crowd to act. They showed a video about the bystander effect, in which people were less likely to help a person in distress when others nearby also failed to intervene. Once one person stepped forward, others followed.
Jellesma said the same dynamic could matter during an attack. One person who takes decisive action — directing others to an exit or beginning a barricade — may help a group overcome panic.
“You want to be that person,” he said.
Many attacks end before police arrive
Police response is only one part of surviving an attack because many incidents end before officers reach the scene. Jellesma told the audience that the national average police response is about three minutes, though travel time in and around Estes Park will vary with the location of officers and the emergency.
Data provided by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University identified 597 active attacks nationwide from 2000 through 2024. Of those, 347, or 58.2%, ended before law enforcement arrived. Attackers fled in 186 cases, died by suicide in 81, were subdued by civilians in 53 and were shot by civilians in 27.
The attacks caused 4,055 casualties, including 1,415 deaths and 2,640 people wounded, according to the data.
Firearms were the primary weapon in 557 attacks, or 93.3%, while blades were used in 28 and vehicles in 12. Businesses were the most common location, accounting for 269 attacks, or 45.1%. Public or outdoor spaces accounted for 166 attacks, schools for 80 and churches for 20.
In 65% of the cases, the attacker had no relationship to the location. Nearly 98% of the attacks involved one attacker.
The CRASE curriculum is based on the Avoid, Deny, Defend strategy developed in 2004 by the ALERRT Center. The center, created in 2002 through a partnership involving Texas State University and law enforcement agencies in San Marcos and Hays County, Texas, trains first responders and provides civilian-response teaching materials. The FBI named ALERRT the national standard for active-shooter response training in 2013.
Full training available upon request
Thursday’s program was shortened to fit the Police Department’s Coffee & Tea at the PD format. Police Chief Ian Stewart said the department will offer the full two- to three-hour curriculum to businesses, places of worship, and other groups that request it. The longer presentation may include practical scenarios if requested.
“I feel this falls under our community caretaker responsibilities for the town and want to provide this if requested,” Stewart said in an email. “We just need to be able to schedule it based on instructor availability.”
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