The date is October 1, 2017. A heinous incident has been labeled as “the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history”. At 10:08 p.m. at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, the final artist of the night, James Aldean, was in the midst of his set when gunshots began to materialize within the sea of 22,000 attendees, resulting in 58 casualties and leaving more than 500 people injured. This vile tragedy is nothing more than an act of terror.

In today’s world, the sheer fact that an incident such as this can occur in such an unforeseen manner makes any person out there who is just living their day-to-day life vulnerable to such unfathomable tragedies. Public spaces such as nightclubs, churches, fast food establishments, movie theaters, community centers, and even schools have proven to be modern terrorist targets.

If La Quinta High School happened to be the target for a school shooting, going under lockdown would be inevitable. A protocol titled “Lockdown Notification Procedure” that has been engendered by the Desert Sands Unified School District would be put into action. The latter of which describes the purpose of this procedure is to “improve communication between law enforcement agencies and schools during times of school lockdowns.” After such procedure has commenced, a “LIGHTS-LOCKS-OUT OF SIGHT” lockdown would occur. Both interior and exterior doors are locked along with exterior gates. Students are moved from the windows, which are covered, lights are turned off and no movement will eventuate.

Resource Officer Deputy Padilla stated that everyone should take cover and eliminate any forms of movement. The type of cover Padilla mentioned is “hard cover,” which is taking cover behind something that is robust, such as a wall. In the event that there is no cover at all in sight, one should just run away from the direction of the shots. On the other hand, something that many people tend to do is pull out their phones and start recording. Recording is something nobody should do in the middle of a shooting: simply take cover and follow instructions. “That stuff can be replaced, but your life can’t,” stated Padilla.

As for Padilla, he has two tasks at hand: notify the department above him and locate and take out the shooter(s). In most shootings, the shooter(s) usually takes their own life/lives to avoid the consequences. Padilla must then alert the authorities and look for the shooter(s) while backup arrives.

Americans are starting to see a rise in mass shooting incidents. Last year, the incident at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida was labeled the “deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history.” A little more than a year later, the Las Vegas incident has taken the title. The transient amount of time it took just for another mass shooting to occur and obtain that contemptible title is both frightening and sickening. The fact that I’m sitting here writing this article on what do in case of a school shooting is a testament to the fact that a course of action must be done in order to prevent such events from seizing the lives of the innocent.