Stop the Killing: How to End the Mass Shooting Crisis

by Katherine Schweit

Stop the Killing offers insight into what each of us can do to end the active shooter crisis plaguing America. Written by the former head of the FBI’s active shooter program, Katherine Schweit, shares an insider look at what we’ve learned, and failed to learn, about protecting our businesses, houses of worship, and schools. The book demystifies the language around active shooters, mass killings, threat assessment teams, and more. Never gathered before into one place, readers gain access to evidence-based research and the most up-to-date information as they travel step-by-step through shooting prevention efforts and shooting aftermaths. Beginning with an understanding of how to spot potential shooters, readers learn the many ways to prevent shootings and the role threat assessment teams play. Threat assessment experts provide insight on what kind of information they need, and how they use it to intercept a person on a pathway to violence. The book guides readers through the process of assessing building security weaknesses and shows how to find vulnerabilities in people, programs, and policies. Packed with practical advice for training every age, from preschoolers, to elementary school children, to adults, the book also includes the author’s own teaching outline on how to train people to run, hide, fight. The book gathers together examples to help build individualized emergency operations plans and shows how to tap vast government resources to cover costs to your office and employees, districts and students, and survivors and victim’s families. Hear sober advice gathered from those who have survived and responded to shootings at Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Aurora theater, Los Angeles International Airport, and more. Their common theme is that it can happen anywhere and has. All the more reason to accept that as each of us better understand what happens and how to prevent it, we can be the ones to stop the killing. The book also features a new preface exploring the 2021 school shooting tragedy in Michigan, especially the groundbreaking use of a domestic terrorism charge filed against the shooter and involuntary manslaughter charges filed against his parents.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Crime

246 pages, Hardcover

Published August 15, 2021

About the author

Katherine Schweit is a former journalist and Chicago prosecutor who spent 20 years as an FBI Special Agent. In her latest book, "Women Who Talk to the Dead," two women lead the largest FBI exhumation in history to give voice to 200 forgotten murder victims. True crime fans of "Mindhunter," "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" and "We Keep the Dead Close," will love how Schweit blends her expertise in law enforcement with her gift for storytelling, to bring readers this gripping true-crime story of social justice. In the spirit of award-winning writers Amber Hunt and Jana Monroe, "Women Who Talk to the Dead" chronicles the remarkable journey of Detroit Police Detective Shannon Jones and FBI Special Agent Leslie Larsen who assemble a team led by female forensic anthropologists, scientists, and investigators who methodically unearthed Detroit's painful past. The book is "especially and unreservedly recommended" by the Midwest Book Review, which calls the book "a simply fascinating read from start to finish," and "inspiring." The New York Times' Devlin Barrett calls it "a haunting account of what it takes to give victims’ families something more important than closure—to give them answers”.


Schweit is also the author of "Stop the Killing: How to End the Mass Shooting Crisis," and the dual titled, "A Simple Guide to the Second Amendment/How to Talk About Guns With Anyone." Honoring the book with its Ben Franklin Award, the Independent Book Publishers Association called the book a "comprehensive, non-partisan guide [to] equips readers with strategies to engage in informed discussions about guns in America."

Her FBI career centered on justice against all odds, earning her two U.S. Attorney General Awards for fighting for victims. Now, she offers hope to those impacted by violence on her podcast, Stop the Killing, with her London co-host Sarah Ferris. She is a founding member of the Bureau Consortium consulting group and owns Schweit Consulting LLC., providing crisis and communications guidance to schools, businesses, and government agencies. She sits as an expert advisor on several boards, including the University of Michigan’s National Center for School Safety. She earned a BA in journalism from Michigan State University and a JD from DePaul College of Law, where she is currently an adjunct professor. Based outside Washington, D.C., she continues to write, teach, and advocate for justice and a safer future for everyone.

Reviews

[Courtnee Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stop the Killing details the efforts by Katherine Schweit, her fellow associates, and FBI agents to gather data about active shooters. Assigned to former Vice President Joe Biden’s task force to curb gun violence, Schweit became one of America's most knowledgeable people about active shooters. The task force eagerly sought data on active shooters and developed statistics to support the findings. In the book, the author dispels myths concerning the perceived demographics of active shooters and discusses relevant facts, the specific language used when describing targeted attacks, threat assessment teams and management, and some detailed examples that illustrate concerning behaviors and clarify terminology.

Katherine Schweit is a leading expert in active shooters, and her book is a thorough text that may help you assess and manage the risks of active shooters in your community. Far from breeding fear, the book takes a proactive approach, arming readers with facts, statistics, and knowledge to increase their likelihood of survival in an active shooter incident. A good point explores the fame an active shooter generally seeks. It raises the concern that, in the past, the media has focused too heavily on the shooter and not enough on the victims. Caregivers can use the information they learn in the book to talk to children—even those as young as preschoolers—about gun violence and teach them the fundamentals of Run. Hide. Fight.® Stop the Killing should be read by anyone who hopes to gather information that will help them be more informed about active shooters and prepare others in their community to become more proactive.

[Tod Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Call to Action for All Leaders!

My review of Katherine Schweit's new book, Stop the Killing:

From the very beginning of Katherine Schweit's newly published book, Stop the Killing, her call-to-action for the public and leaders resonates throughout the concise, factually based work.

She says it, herself, best by describing planning and training associated with active shooter preparedness and response: "Safety isn't about the odds of whether it will happen; safety is about being prepared if it does happen."

Katherine brings together numerous personal experiences from her time with the FBI, along with hard data, to present recommendations that can be used by any leader, regardless of whether they are informal or formal leaders within our communities. The book is as applicable to a School Resource Officer, Police Chief, or Fire Chief, as it is to a teacher, superintendent, congregation safety volunteer, or corporate security officer.

The book is equally divided between awareness and intervention (for prevention) and planning and training (for response). There are numerous references and recommendations on where to start (for the newly initiated), as well as ways to improve existing plans (for the more experienced leaders). As a former Special Operations officer in the US military, advisor to several cities on active shooter training, and the executive leader for a simulation company for crisis response leadership training, I have found multiple observations and recommendations within Katherine's book that are of immediate use for my company, and for those leaders that I work with on a continuous basis.

This is a must-read book for any leader that deals with risks. In fact, I think it should be highly recommended reading for anyone that is concerned about the challenges we face in today's society. If you are concerned about the safety of your children, your place of worship, your business, or organization...or how you would respond to an incident...then this book should be on your shelf (and full of highlighted examples for immediate action).

[Myles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an outstanding resource for anybody concerned about the safety of their business, school, place of worship, or government office in this age of the proliferation of guns in America.

I now understand, for example, why there are giant red concrete balls planted in front of Target store entrances.

There’s a lot more people can do to prevent active shooter incidents, but the subtitle of the book (“How to End the Mass Shooting Crisis”) — in America presumably — is a little optimistic.

Author Katherine Shweidt doesn’t explicitly say how her community will end the crisis. She writes more, though, on how to slow it down, how to mitigate the harm these occurrences cause, and how to plan ahead of time to prevent future occurrences.

You may quibble with Schweidt's recommendation to RUN,HIDE, or FIGHT if, God forbid, you are a victim of a shooter, but I can tell you that on at least one occasion I fought back (a couple of muggers, not shooters). While it didn't prevent me from being injured or from suffering PTSD in the aftermath, it helped me focus my attention the task at hand -- making sure it was not my last day on this earth, not the last day I would see my wife and children again.

But for anybody who thinks their government does nothing -- a widespread attitude not only in America but where I live as well, which happens to be Canada -- your governments are doing a lot to prevent future mass shootings, to educate you on what you can do to help them in this quest, to mitigate the harm of future shootings, and to support the victims.

It is also a reminder that first responders suffer from PTSD from attending to the aftermath of shootings, and these first responders are not faceless bureaucrats...they are your neighbors, too.

[Frank DeAngelis · Rating 5 out of 5]

"An incredible book written by an extraordinary human being. Stop the Killing: How to End the Mass Shooting Crisis is a great training manual for all situations. Katherine Schweit stresses the importance of being proactive as opposed to reactive. If you would have asked me prior to April 20th, 1999, could a mass shooting occur at Columbine High School, my response would have been not in our community. I made the statement after the horrific event; that I just joined a club in which you do not want to be a member. I wish that I had this wonderful book prior to The Columbine tragedy. Katherine was able to capture and articulate the many lessons learned by each cataphoric event. Katherine’s personal journey and knowledge is invaluable. Her journey has allowed her to visit sites where shooting events have occurred and the conversations she has had with survivors are shared in the book and are powerful lessons. Her working relationships with top professionals throughout her amazing career make the book a valuable resource for all walks of lives. It discusses steps that can be done in helping prevent events from materializing and the research-based programs that are effective once a threat does occur, and what to do once the event is transpiring. The book is a valuable resource in the recovery process. Stop the Killing: How to End the Mass Shooting Crisis is a must read for all members within our society; the knowledge gained by reading Katherine Schweit book will prepare everyone to make our world a safer place."

[Mark Scoular · Rating 5 out of 5]

If protecting your family and friends is of interest or if it is part of your role to ensure public safety & security whilst they are on your premises, in your hotel, shopping mall, school, church or attending an event you are organizing, then Stop the Killing is a must read! My friend and former colleague Kate Schweit has pulled together many of the elements of Protective Security & Preparedness that will give the reader a far greater understanding of Mass Shootings, how to mitigate against them and what to do if you find yourself caught up in one. It is particularly interesting to see how US culture and the Right to Bear Arms translates into policy unique to that country - Run, Hide, Fight (US) v Run, Hide, Tell (UK) for example. Having been personally responsible for the development and delivery of the UK Counter Terrorism (CT) response to what we define as a Marauding Terrorism Attack between and further responsible for exporting that expertise to strategically important countries to the UK, I can say with confidence that no other book I have read captures the essence of the Active Shooter quite like this one.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

The information contained in this book can save your life and the lives of loved ones! It is a must read for anyone involved in safety and security.

Stop the Killing analyzes the entire active shooter cycle-- from how to recognize behaviors and identify a potential shooter to how to survive an attack. The book offers practical guidance on how to develop an action plan that can save lives in homes, houses of worship and businesses. This is a comprehensive and "one stop shop" for all things related to active shooters. There are numerous free or low cost planning and training resources which can be used to implement an active shooter response strategy in virtually any organization.

The valuable advice, tips and lessons learned empower readers to make pro-active, thoughtful and split second decisions in the face of imminent danger.

[Steve Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explains how active shooter attacks have proliferated and discusses what we, as a country, need to do to address them. Kathryn uses her background as a former FBI Special Agent and executive who oversaw their active shooter response program, combined with her research skills as a lawyer, to tell the story very well. She has met and interviewed victims who survived, parents of children who didn't, policy makers, law enforcement professionals, and other researchers to get numerous perspectives. It hits home when you are reminded of attacks you heard about but almost forgot because of the large number, and it shows the big picture better than I've seen before. If you pick up this book you won't put it down.

[Dewey Cornell · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a former FBI Special Agent who specialized in mass shootings, Katherine Schweit has given us a remarkable and compelling tour de force that should guide public policy and prevention efforts at local, state, and national levels. Illustrated with numerous case examples, the author’s terse yet thorough analysis deftly covers the backgrounds and motives of mass shooters, security considerations for different settings from schools to places of worship, practical advice on how to survive an attack, and the most important strategies for prevention of mass shootings."

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katherine Schweit’s book is a gift. She is a clear and reasoned voice on a tragic issue that has been characterized by myth, misinformation, and fear. Her work is deeply researched. She presents practical truths designed to empower private citizens and public officials alike to prevent future violence. Stop the Killing provides real hope that we can act to save lives and to save families from the unspeakable anguish of losing a loved one to violent death at the hands of an active shooter."

[Aric Mutchnick]

"It would be easy to comment on Kate Schweit's incredible depth of experience and understanding of the issues surrounding gun violence. Her ability to convey her knowledge in writing is even more impressive. The book grabs you in the first chapter and will not let you go until the end. If you are looking for masterful insight beyond statistics, from an undeniably trusted source, this is it."

[Hijinx Abound · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid, straightforward discussion and information. No politics or personal commentary.

[Tovis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I have run across with real solutions to a complex issue. Incredibly deep and a must read for parents, educators, and school boards.

[Jae Luck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written. An excellent resource guide

[Reader Views · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Stop the Killing: How to End the Mass Shooting Crisis” is authored by Katherine Schweit, an attorney and former FBI agent. This book is not a fiction or novel but gets into the guts of a mostly American phenomenon; mass killing.

Sandy Hook, Columbine, Virginia Tech, and Aurora Theater are just a few of the mass shootings that have taken place across the country, even becoming international in nature. Many of these events are touching children! Children killing children even! The profligate and easy access to firearms has created an epidemic.

This author delves deeply into the nuances and rarely understood ancillary issues associated with this terrible story of tragedies. She strongly details and outlines a series of multiple steps and procedures that we must institute to avoid these killings in the future. As she so eloquently states,

A single solution doesn’t exist, but a cocktail of various steps is the answer.

As a professional book reviewer, I have read hundreds of books across the board. Every hundred books or so, I’ve had the occasion to really call one a “keeper.” A keeper to me isn’t only a well-written book, but is written so plainly that I don’t have to “backflip.” This means it’s so eloquently concise that the reader doesn’t have to return to a previous paragraph or chapter to understand what they’re reading in the present.

“Stop the Killing: How to End the Mass Shooting Crisis” by Katherine Schweit is such a book. It addresses a phenomenon that we all have seen on television. These mass shootings in schools, restaurants, malls, theaters, and other public establishments are absolutely upsetting. But hardly anyone has proposed a cohesive and well-understood remedy. This book does.

The author lists many procedures that I believe should be instituted immediately in all the above-listed establishments, especially our schools. Obviously, as a former FBI agent, she understands and has seen many of the horrors of this crisis. I’ve also taken on the task of doing quite a lot of research on the author, and her credentials are impeccable. All should purchase a copy of this book, especially those with children. The information given could actually save your child’s life!

[Danny Jarvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should be a higher rating given the critical importance and informative topic, held back by the writing style.

Historical and analytical perspectives helping to propose logical solutions to such an illogical problem. The author lays out her credibility as a subject matter expert and goes on to separate fact from assumption surrounding all aspects of mass shootings. Most significantly, it focuses on prevention over reaction by covering how anyone can identify potential threats, the who and how of reporting, information about what is done with that reporting, and references for training yourself and your organization.
“Safety isn’t about the odds of whether it will happen; safety is about being prepared if it does happen.”

However, parts are difficult to read, which is unfortunate because of how thorough and important the points made are. It struggles with active voice, run-on/rambling sentences and sections, unnecessary repetition, and a general lack of flow. Several portions feel like the author used talk-to-text while jumping between reading data and telling “there I was” stories.

Despite these factors, this book is a MUST read for any organizational leader, parent, security official, or just those interested in how society needs to get in front of the problem of mass shootings.

[Ramon Madrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read book for all people wanting to end the mass shooting crisis. Katherine has brought us a wealth of information from her time as a lawyer and former special agent who created the FBI active shooter program. I have seen her on the news/social media sharing much of the book with the goal of educating the public on their role in ending the mass shooting crisis. She takes it further by hosting a podcast of the same name, Stop The Killing, applying the book to active shooter incidents. Doing nothing to end the killing is not an option - we have to start somewhere. Get the book, listen to the podcast, and follow Katherine! Looking forward to her next release! #StopTheKilling

[Kim Horton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is as big as its title

There is a lot here. Stats on shootings, how often they happen, how people are affected and what to do when you are involved as a victim, a first responder or a relative. Lists of resources for training is extensive and what training can be effective and what likely isnt .
This isn't a simple subject, doesn't have a simplest of causes or how to handle them immediately, just after or long term but it's covered and done well. I was impressed with how well it is organized.
Recommended

[Betsy Ashton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not for the faint of heart, Schweit's book is more than a compilation of mass murders. She offers real-life suggestions for how to stop the killing, things all of us can do. As a fiction writer, I'm not usually stuck, but when I was starting my latest novel, I wrote the first chapter six times, only to hit the delete key. Then I read Schweit's book and knew how to start with an event both horrible and all too frequent. I can't thank her enough for this book.

[Lisette Hewitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Useful Resource

This wasn't quite what I expected, but it has a lot of evidence based strategies for what to do before, during and after an active shooter. The chapter with links, is invaluable.

[Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read written by an FBI agent that was assigned to investigate how to stop school shootings after the Sandy Hook massacre. I thought there were a number of useful takeaways - that more shootings take place in workplaces instead of schools, that what we teach our kids is not actually the best method to stay alive (we should be teaching Run. Hide. Fight.), that the NRA underwent a massive identity shift after a coup in 1977 which changed it from “safety and shooting in recreation” to “you will not infringe upon my right to own guns”. The entire history of gun laws was fascinating. The book addressed the common phrase “the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun”.

[Devan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely learned alot. And it's something I will bring back to my own employer to empower the safety of our building

[Ra EL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing . What an eye opening book. Would recommend to friends and family any day.

[Kelly Lincoln · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for school staff to stay up to date on school safety measures. I read some chapters twice to really digest the information.

[Lillian VanBennekom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book. More an instruction manual for companies schools and churches than a deep dive into the reasonings behind shootings.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book would go more into how to actually stop mass shootings. I think it would be better named, "stop the dying," as a great part of the book is focused on what to do to reduce the chances of dying in a mass shooting and we just otherwise accept it as a feature of our society. :(