When an officer enters law enforcement, he or she is aware that danger is part of the profession, but most never expect to encounter a targeted violence or active threat incident.

These terms are broad enough to take many forms in our work, but here I am describing situations where a perpetrator carries out a violent attack on a particular target. The method of violence and victims targeted often vary, but any community rocked by an active threat incident suffers immensely in the aftermath. The trauma is not limited to the general community—as the heroes who run toward the destruction, first responders are deeply affected by active threat situations, sometimes to the point where officers cannot return to the job.