On the night of July 20, 2012, a lone gunman opened fire on moviegoers attending the midnight premiere of a Batman movie in the Century 16 Theatre complex in Aurora, Colorado.  Within minutes James Holmes had shot seventy people, twelve of whom died, and twelve others were injured as they fled the theatre.

Through the combined efforts of the city's public safety agencies-police, fire, communications-with timely assistance from neighboring jurisdictions agencies, plus federal agencies-The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)-local hospitals, and a nearby public school, these outcomes were achieved:

*Fire department personnel treated over one hundred people at multiple triage centers set up around the theatre.  All victims with survivable serious wounds were rapidly transported to nearby hospitals and recovered.

*A police unit arrived under two minutes from the first 911 calls, and multiple units arrived within three minutes.

*The first fire department unit arrived in five and a half minutes an immediately engaged in patient care near the main entrance of the theater.

*Multiple improvised explosive devices at the shooter's apartment were discovered.  Police evacuated residents in the apartment building where the explosives were located and in the surrounding buildings.  They contacted two neighboring counties' bomb squads and police department experts, along with the FBI and the ATF and working collaboratively, they disarmed the devices with no harm done to the residents or first responders.  Only minor damage to the apartment where the shooter had rigged the devices occurred.

*Five area hospitals received victims and provided emergency care with only a few minutes' forewarning to prepare for the influx of patients.  Because of traffic and pedestrian congestion, ambulances could not get through to several patient triage and treatment locations.  Officers transported victims in police vehicles rather than wait for ambulances to get through or for patients to be carried long distances to the ambulances.  Of sixty patients treated in hospitals that night, twenty-seven went in police cars and twenty in ambulances.  Others were transported in private vehicles.  This level of police transport was unplanned and unprecedented.  While considered out-of-the-box thinking, the latest emergency medicine research suggests that speed of getting a gunshot wound victim to a nearby hospital is more important than the mode of transport or care en route.

*The 911 call takers handled 6,000 calls instead of the typical 1,500 for an evening.  The telecommunicators supported the incident throughout and were instrumental in alerting nearby jurisdictions to render mutual aid.

*Police quickly set up a family reunification center at nearby Gateway High School with cooperation from Aurora public school officials.  

*Police officers and supervisors managed crowd control of the 1,200 people pouring out of the theater complex into the parking lots.  Police separated the crowd into groups by theater and arranged bus transport to the school where they were interviewed.

*Victims and their families were cared for by the Aurora Police Victim Services Unit, supplemented by trained volunteers and professional family assistance personnel from nearby jurisdictions.

*Families of the deceased were given the option of having their own public information officer assigned to them to help with media requests for interviews.

*The coroner's office and Aurora police department sped confirmation of the deceased victims' identities by having a police forensic analyst use an innovative practice-taking just two fingerprints from each deceased victim while still in the theater-and matching them against driver's license records.  This approach expedited the process-a concern for loved ones-while meeting legal and professional requirements.

*A series of press conferences and press releases kept the public informed.  The governor and the mayor spoke several times in press conferences and public information officers from the police department, federal agencies, and fire departments released information regularly for weeks afterward.  As the investigation proceeded, the Public Information Officer for the Aurora police department used Twitter and Facebook to announce upcoming press conferences and alert the press to what topics would be covered.

*Despite the fatigue felt by public safety personnel, they successfully provided security for a prayer vigil for the community and a visit from the president of the United States. 

*Supportive counseling was offered early on and over a period of time for theatergoers and first responders who suffered psychological trauma.

*As a result of a trial by jury, the shooter was sentenced to life in prison.

 

Your case analysis should include the following: 

  An assessment of the situation. Identify the relevant theories or principles that help explain or analyze the situation. Use relevant literature from MPA courses. 


   A recommended course of action. In your role as a consultant to other jurisdictions preparing for how to deal with sudden, mass shootings, develop a set of recommendations to guide them in effectively addressing these types of situations. Discuss the challenges these recommendations might face and how these challenges can be mitigated. 


 A reflection on lessons learned. What can be learned from this case in the context of public administration that might apply to other cases, situations or settings? 


 A bibliography. Include a list of sources used in the analysis. 

 

In your response, be sure to address the following questions:

1. 1).   Think about the number of public services that were involved in this case.  How many levels of government?  How many branches of government?  What is the role of nonprofits and/or the private sector?
   1. How does coordination among these entities occur?
   2. Assess how the family members and the public were kept informed. Identify the entities involved and how they coordinated with each other?
   3. Based on this case study, explain the value of public servants to the private sector. How does the ethical basis of the public sector play out in this scenario? Is the private sector concerned with the creation of public value as much as the public sector? Why so?
   4. What does it take to have well-trained responders on staff and ready to go at a moment's notice when emergencies like this happen?

 

 

References:

Guy, M. E. & Ely, T. L.  (2018).  Essentials of public service:  An introduction to contemporary public administration.  Irvine, CA:  Melvin & Leigh Publishers.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Case Analysis Responding to the Aurora Theater Shooting Assessment of the Situation The Aurora theater shooting presented a complex and challenging crisis that required a coordinated response from mul... View the full answer