Students design active shooter scenario computer model

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) - A graduate class at Purdue is incorporating real-life scenarios in the classroom.

Grad students are designing a computer model for an active shooter situation, one that may come in handy as more schools discuss the best practices for safety.

“What we want to do is create this model to show the best ways to respond to situations like this, not necessarily make the decisions for the law enforcement agencies, but give them some insight into what they can do to respond better in a situation,” said Adam Kirby,  a Purdue graduate research assistant.

Options included in the model are a school resource officer, a teacher with a concealed weapon, simply locked doors in a school, or all of them.

Eventually, this model will gather data to show which scenarios would statistically work best.

“Hopefully we can come up with some data if we are able to decrease response times, which could cut down on casualties,” explained Kirby.

The class is taught by Dr. Eric Dietz. He was Indiana's Homeland Security Director during the shooting at Virginia Tech.

He was able to disseminate information from that campus shooting to other universities across the state at that time.

It’s that kind of knowledge Dietz now uses at Purdue as both a professor and the director of Purdue’s Homeland Security Institute.

“It’s a time for us to reflect, what are we supposed to do, what would I do if confronted with that kind of event?” explained Dietz.

Dietz said he expects Tuesday’s situation at IUPUI will be a time to reflect for both schools and other leaders in the area.

“I’m sure all the other first responders in the state are looking at what happened today and trying to make the best decision they can for their populations,” explained Dietz.