The FBI’s latest report shows progress, but the real story is what’s driving the decline and why organizations must stay vigilant.
The FBI has released its annual Active Shooter Incidents in the United States report for 2024, and for the first time in over a decade, the numbers are heading in the right direction. The report tracks incidents involving one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill in populated areas. It includes data on casualties, shooter profiles, locations, weapons used, and trends over time. While the headline numbers offer hope, the real message for employers and business leaders lies in what drives those numbers, and what still puts workplaces at risk.
Key data points from the report:
- 50% fewer active shooter incidents
- 57% less casualties
- 78% reduction in deaths
- 80% drop in mass killings (as defined by the FBI)
Here is a link to the full report: https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/reports-and-publications/2024-active-shooter-report/view
Those are real gains. But if you stop reading there, you’ll miss what matters most to the private sector: business is still a target, and insider threat remains a persistent risk.
Business At Risk
The FBI’s 2024 report recorded four incidents in commercial settings. That’s 17% of all attacks. Those four events resulted in 23 casualties, nearly a quarter of the national total. One of them, a shooting at The Mad Butcher supermarket in Fordyce, Arkansas, was the deadliest incident of the year.
In the Mad Butcher attack, a 44-year-old gunman opened fire in the parking lot before moving inside the store, targeting customers and employees. Four people were killed, ten others injured, including two police officers. The attacker, armed with a shotgun and handgun, was apprehended after a gunfight with police. Authorities have not identified a clear motive and found no personal connection between the attacker and the victims or location.
These business-related incidents did not just target customer-facing retail settings. Half occurred in closed operations—warehouses, distribution centers, or back-of-house facilities. The message is clear: even businesses without public access points are exposed.
Who were the attackers?
- 24 Active shooters in 19 different states (Texas -4, California – 2, North Carolina – 2)
- Shooters age range – 14 to 73
- 25 shooters – 22 male (88%) 3 female (12%)
- 75% were apprehended (including one the next day)
- Five attacks (21%) – connection between the shooter and the location of victim
- Weapons: four handguns, one shotgun (one attacker used both)
- One event involved an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement
- One attack involved 2 shooters
Familiar faces can be unrecognized risks
The ANSI/ASIS WVPI AA-2020 National Standard, Workplace Violence and Active Assailant – Prevention, Intervention, and Response, provides a comprehensive framework to identify, assess, and mitigate threats of violence in the workplace. It outlines policies, procedures, and protocols for implementing a workplace violence prevention and intervention (WVPI) program, including guidance on active assailant incidents.
The FBI report shows that 21% of all active shooters in 2024 had a known connection to the site or a victim. One of the business-related attackers was a current employee. These are not random acts. These are employees, vendors, or individuals familiar with the workplace.
This is where ANSI draws a bright line. Insider threats require proactive prevention strategies, including regular review of workplace relationships and grievance processes.
ANSI WVPI AA-2020, Section 5.1.3 calls for organizations to “identify individuals with legitimate access who may present a threat due to grievances, behavioral issues, or other indicators.”
Why it matters: Failing to detect early warning signs among current or former personnel creates avoidable risk.
Let us not forget the risk posed by former employees. Whether driven by a grievance or a sense of familiarity with the location, these individuals can pose real threats long after they leave an organization. Especially in cases of contentious or involuntary termination, post-separation monitoring becomes essential. If you are terminating someone for threatening or violent behavior, the risk does not end with the termination. It may begin there.
The warning signs are there. Are you looking?
According to the FBI, 58% of attackers in 2024 engaged in predatory behavior. These individuals researched, surveilled, and planned their attacks in advance. Their actions accounted for 77% of all casualties nationwide.
Decades of research and case studies show that more than 75% of attackers communicated their intent to act, either verbally or online, before the attack. This behavior, known as “leakage,” is one of the most critical warning signs. It offers a clear opportunity for early detection and intervention. Leakage is often when violent intent first surfaces, even if indirectly. The FBI considers “leakage” to be one of the most reliable red flags in pre-attack behavior. It should never be ignored and should prompt an immediate response.
This planning and preparation window, along the well documented Pathway to Violence, presents the best opportunity for prevention. That opportunity only exists if someone sees the signs and knows how to respond. The earlier we identify behaviors of concern and movement along this pathway, the greater the chance to intervene before violence occurs.
The FBI’s Making Prevention a Reality report outlines clear behaviors of concern that often appear well before violence occurs:
- Increased agitation or emotional volatility
- Obsessive interest in mass shootings or violent ideologies
- Fixation on a specific grievance or person
- Leakage of intent—threats made to others or posted online
- Changes in hygiene, appearance, or demeanor
- Escalating aggression toward coworkers or customers
- Withdrawal, depression, or isolation, especially after job loss or personal crises
These behaviors are rarely subtle. The problem is not that they are invisible. The problem is that they are often ignored, explained away, or dismissed, until it is too late.
What employers can do
Training supervisors and frontline staff to recognize and report concerning behavior is critical. But awareness alone is not enough. You need structure. You need a response, intervention and mitigation plan. You need constant vigilance.
ANSI WVPI AA-2020, Section 6.1.3 calls on organizations to establish Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) processes that identify, assess, and respond to persons of concern.
Why it matters: BTAM is not guesswork. It uses structured, professional judgment to guide action.
ANSI WVPI AA-2020, Section 6.3 requires regular training to help staff recognize, document, and report behaviors of concern.
Why it matters: You cannot intervene on risks your team does not understand. Training builds confidence and fluency in prevention strategies.
These systems are not theoretical. They are proven. Behavioral warning signs are often the only “tell” before a violent act. Ignoring them means gambling with lives. Acting on them means preventing a tragedy.
Readiness and prevention require more than a binder on a shelf
These attacks are not isolated tragedies. They are failures of planning, training, execution, and imagination. We cannot ignore a potential risk because it seems unlikely. Business leaders, especially in human resources, security, legal, and operations, must treat workplace violence as an enterprise-level risk.
That means having clear protocols. Training the people on the floor. Building a team with the confidence and authority to act.
ANSI WVPI AA-2020, Section 6.4.2 states that organizations must have a written workplace violence prevention plan that includes “identifying, reporting, investigating, and responding to potential threats.”
Why it matters: If your plan doesn’t tell people exactly what to do, when to do it, and who is responsible, it isn’t prevention—it’s exposure.
ANSI WVPI AA-2020, Section 6.3 emphasizes the role of training in helping staff “identify warning behaviors, respond appropriately, and understand how to access support mechanisms.”
Why it matters: Training should not be compliance theater. Done right, it builds trust, sharpens awareness, and gives people the confidence to act before harm is done.
Trained teams. Trusted process. Safer outcomes.
Keep the momentum and grow the culture.
The FBI’s 2024 data is cause for cautious optimism, but it is not a victory lap. It is proof of concept. The threat management practices outlined in the ANSI National Standard are not theories. They are tested strategies with a proven track record. The numbers from 2024 back this up.
A strong workplace culture, where people are trained, trusted, and empowered, is an environment where violence prevention takes root and thrives. You cannot prevent what your culture refuses to acknowledge. Violence prevention is not a policy or a checklist. It is a practiced culture built through leadership, trust, and daily action.
Organizations that invest in prevention, training, and threat assessment are changing the trajectory of workplace violence. If your team has not reviewed its protocols, trained supervisors, or tested your threat response this year, the time is not “soon.” It is now.
Nurture your culture. Train your team. Build your process. Test your capability.
Protect your people.
