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Managing active assailant risk in higher education

Explore active assailant risk management strategies in higher education to safeguard campuses and protect students, faculty, and staff effectively.

01/23/2026 · 8 minute read

Active assailant incidents represent deeply tragic events that can cause severe harm to students, faculty, staff, and communities, with the potential of long-lasting physical and psychological consequences. And given the open and accessible nature of college and university campuses, mitigating these risks requires a proactive approach that includes careful planning and collaboration between multiple stakeholders.

While active assailants can use a variety of weapons — including knives, vehicles, or incendiary devices — to inflict injury, firearms tend to garner the most attention due to their potentially widespread impact. According to the FBI, there were 24 active shooter incidents* in 2024, four of which took place at educational institutions. Beyond those incidents, gun violence on school premises is prevalent — according to Everytown, there have been more than 400 incidents of gunfire on college campuses since 2013, more than 40 of which occurred in the first nine months of 2025.

Considering the extent of the threat and the potential impacts, higher education institutions require comprehensive risk management strategies that may enable them to mitigate risks and more effectively respond to threats.

* The FBI defines an “active shooter” as one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.

Understanding active assailant risk

An active assailant incident is distinct from other forms of workplace violence. It usually involves an attack by an individual whose intent is to inflict as much injury and loss of life as possible. These life-threatening attacks can come from sometimes unpredictable sources: a disgruntled current or former employee, student, or faculty member, an isolated community member, or an opportunistic attack from someone with no personal connection to the location. While firearms are most often the weapons reported in the news, assailants may employ any object that can be wielded with deadly force, including vehicles, blades, or incendiary devices.

This diversity of potential threats adds complexity to risk management efforts and reinforces the need for comprehensive planning and preparedness.

Implications for higher education institutions

Every day, colleges and universities are trusted with safeguarding the well-being of hundreds — sometimes thousands — of staff, faculty, and students. With people both dispersed widely across large campuses and concentrated in classrooms and lecture halls, understanding and managing active assailant risk in higher education is both complex and essential.

Loss of human life as well as lasting physical and psychological harm are the most devastating impacts of active assailant events. Beyond that, educational institutions need to consider logistical costs, including operational downtime, legal settlements, and reputational damage that can contribute to loss of enrollment, which can have long-term financial implications. Institutions can also be held financially accountable for any perceived failures in an active assailant incident, including any unaddressed security vulnerabilities.

Safeguarding campus communities requires comprehensive risk management strategies

Given the profound risk, managing active assailant risk sits at the intersection of physical safety, institutional reputation, and community trust. This demands a proactive, cross-functional approach from higher education leaders and administrators.

Key actions to help strengthen campus safety and preparedness

Taking proactive steps to manage active assailant risk can be crucial for higher education institutions to help reduce the impact of incidents. Five key actions include:

  • Carrying out assessments and monitoring: It is important to thoroughly assess and evaluate active assailant risks, both inside and outside the organization. Regular security vulnerability assessments are equally vital to help identify weaknesses across infrastructure, access control, and policies and procedures. Provide staff, faculty, and students with an avenue to report suspicious or concerning behavior, which can allow for interventions to prevent problematic behavior from escalating into violence. It is also important to have processes in place to review and act on any reports of suspicious or concerning activity.
  • Conducting scenario planning: Understanding the different types of active assailant attacks and their potential repercussions can help higher education institutions better prepare for a potential incident. Scenario planning — including tabletop exercises and “what-if” conversations — can play a vital role in preparing for active assailant events. By regularly walking through hypothetical scenarios, key individuals and departments or functions can better understand their roles and decision-making processes during a crisis, with the goal of reducing hesitation and improving response times. This proactive approach can also help leadership, security and police, and emergency response teams be better aligned and ready to act swiftly and effectively.
  • Embarking on comprehensive and repeatable training: During an active assailant incident, every second matters. Every person will have to decide for themselves, in the moment, whether to run, hide, or fight. Institutions should consider training to help students, faculty, and staff recognize warning signs and be able to make split-second decisions that can help save their lives. Incorporating training into onboarding and offering regular refreshers reinforces preparedness.
  • Leveraging technology effectively: Today, surveillance and AI systems allow security personnel to monitor vast campuses from a single room, and track and assess anomalies, such as an unregistered vehicle or an unknown person entering a building. Modern tools, such as AI-enabled video analytics, gunshot detection, and remote lockdown systems, can dramatically enhance preparedness and safety if implemented wisely. However, technology is a tool, not a catch-all solution: higher education institutions should approach integrating these systems with sensitivity, training, and the full knowledge and consent of staff and students.
  • Preparing a communications strategy: Clear crisis communication plans are essential and may allow for timely and accurate information to reach the campus population, which can help reduce confusion and support coordinated responses during an incident. However, communication is often a primary point of failure during emergencies, highlighting the need for well-established and practiced communication protocols to maintain effectiveness in crisis situations. Before an incident occurs, higher education institutions should prepare a plan that details how to rapidly communicate with students, faculty, and staff, with law enforcement, and with the wider community. Rapid, accurate updates and community coordination can reduce confusion and have the potential to save lives as an active assailant incident develops.

Navigating the aftermath of an event

A common misunderstanding is that an active assailant event is over once law enforcement has secured the scene or the immediate threat has been contained. However, the way institutions respond to an active assailant is critical and often determines how they will be remembered. Effective response and recovery efforts should not only focus on physical restoration, but also on the physical and psychological needs of those affected, while maintaining operational continuity during a sensitive and challenging period.

First and foremost, address essential human needs in the aftermath of an active assailant event. The focus should be on those impacted by the incident, including the families of the deceased, those injured, and any witnesses.

Administrators should provide students, faculty, and staff with access to psychological support in the days, weeks, and even months after an event. This support should complement and expand on those services provided by standard employee assistance plans. Training staff, faculty, and students to recognize and address post-traumatic stress symptoms is an important step in creating a supportive environment.

An active assailant incident can undermine the sense of personal safety and security, which could contribute to decreased student enrollment. In the long term, institutions should consider actions that provide reassurance to current and prospective students and their families about safety and security on campus to help restore confidence in the institution’s commitment to its people’s well-being.

Effective communication plays a key role in managing an institution’s reputation following an active assailant event. Communications strategies should include well-defined media management plans that clearly outline roles, responsibilities, and messaging to ensure timely, accurate, and consistent information is conveyed to all stakeholders. Plan how to not only provide information, but also respond to misinformation, particularly on social media.

It is also important to consider how to resume operations in the immediate aftermath of an active assailant event. The event site will likely be closed initially for the necessary police investigations. After the police are finished, administrators should carefully evaluate the timing and approach to reopening, recognizing the complex operational, emotional, and safety factors involved.

Building a culture of preparedness and response

Preparing for and responding to an active assailant incident requires significant resources and an institutional willingness to think about the unthinkable in detail.

Failure to prepare can leave students, faculty, and staff vulnerable to potentially fatal consequences. There are many reasons why institutions can become complacent to active assailant incidents, but in the wake of recent events and hoaxes, it is vital to remain vigilant.

In an effort to be prepared, administrators must elevate risk management to the level of fundamental safety and security planning. Embedding preparedness into board discussions, training sessions, tabletop exercises, and drills may help build capability, resilience, and confidence across the campus community.

The resources committed today can prevent a tragedy from escalating into a lasting institutional crisis and, more critically, may protect and preserve the lives and well-being of the students, faculty, staff, and families who put their trust in higher education institutions.

For more information about risk assessments and scenario planning, and assistance in building a pre-incident plan, contact your Marsh representative.

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