Law enforcement experts on surviving an active shooter incident

Always told to keep our head on a swivel. Things like this could happen anywhere, whether it's work, school, at a shop, a restaurant. Citibank said that extensive training related to these types of situations saved a lot of people today. Our FOX 13's Brianna Arredondo is live in Brandon for us tonight. She's there at the Citibank Center. Brianna, I know you spoke with law enforcement experts about how any of us could survive an active shooter incident like this. What'd they say? Yeah, so Ali, I mean, it basically comes all down to the basics, you know, run, hide, fight. And at the end of the day, if you do have to put any of that into practice, that's when you need to have a real plan in place. And it all starts with knowing your surroundings. So where are your exits that are around you? If you're inside or outside, also where could you go in an emergency? We've seen videos circulating on social media today showing the suspected shooter walking up with the rifle in hand while people were outside just feet away at this Citibank campus. I caught up with USF criminology professor and former Tampa Police Chief Lee Burkhaw about what to do if that ever becomes you. There could be a building run around the corner of the building and use the wall as the building as cover. That cover is going to protect you from gunshot wounds. Now I also spoke with the Alert Center of Texas State University today. They teach law enforcement and first responders about active shooter incidents nationwide, including here in Florida. This is training video showing some of what those instructors do when they're teaching these classes. And if running is not an option, they share the next step. In those cases, if you cannot escape, We encourage you to block access to your location. If you're in a room that means close the door, grab bookshelves, desks, whatever you have and put them up against the door. Create that barrier where that person cannot get to you. Turn off the lights, stay quiet, stay out of sight. Make sure that phone is on silent. All of those really important tips here. And at the end of the day, that last step is fighting or defending yourself. If it does come down to that, that is the last resort. But of course your life would then depend on it. All of these tips are definitely things that you can do, whether you are at work, at school, or just out and about in your life, Allie. And Brianna, it's really more important now because the FBI has released some new numbers showing an increase in active shooter incidents. What do you know about that? Yeah, that's correct. So the FBI's latest report on active shooter incidents actually showed an increase in these incidents from 2024 to 2025, a jump by 42%. So this is the issue that is not going away anytime soon. Of course, no one ever wants to go through this type of traumatic situation. But again, having that action plan, something that you know you can do easily, run, hide, fight, defend yourself, whatever it is that you need to do to save your life, That's what you want to do. Brianna Arredondo, live for us there at the Citibank campus, where we can see there's still police presence behind us here at 1017. Brianna, thank you.