Harvard Police Host Active Shooter Trainings for College Students After Fatal Brown Shooting

The Harvard University Police Department is launching active shooter training sessions in residential buildings across campus, citing a need for greater preparedness after multiple nearby shootings over the past year.

In partnership with Harvard College, the department has scheduled trainings through April in both upperclassmen Houses and first-year dorms in the Yard, with plans to expand campus-wide next fall. The first session took place Tuesday at Mather House, led by HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano alongside House and College administrators.

HUPD has offered similar training for residential staff and administrators for several years, according to College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo. The sessions include a presentation on active shooter protocols followed by a question-and-answer session.

But the decision to extend the training to undergraduates came directly after a fatal shooting at Brown in December that left two students dead and nine injured, as well as a nonfatal shooting near Harvard’s campus in October, Palumbo said.

The trainings mark the University’s latest response to growing safety concerns. A day after the Brown shooting, HUPD increased patrols and restricted access to public spaces — including the Smith Campus Center and Science Center — to Harvard ID holders.

The presentation draws on national safety guidelines and outlines basic steps in an active shooter emergency: run if possible; if not, hide in a secure location; and as a last resort, fight.

The sessions were developed in collaboration with College staff, administrators, and students, including the emergency management team, House Faculty Deans, the First Year Experience Office, and the Undergraduate Advisory Board for the Office of Student Services. The 23-member advisory board helped shape how the program could be implemented across the residential system, Palumbo said.

The rollout comes alongside a series of broader security changes enacted after recent shootings. In the days following the Brown shooting Harvard announced that all Faculty of Arts and Sciences buildings on campus would be restricted to Harvard ID holders, moving up the standard winter closure policy by two days. In January, ahead of the spring semester, the University announced those restrictions would remain in place at least through the end of the term.

The October shooting was the second gun-related incident near Harvard’s campus last year. Last April, officers responded to a report of shots fired at the Harvard Square T Station, which resulted in a shelter-in-place order being issued across campus for approximately 30 minutes until HUPD and Cambridge police officers determined that there was no present threat to affiliates.

The College plans to continue the sessions through the semester and into the fall, with the goal of reaching every residential space within the next two years, Palumbo said.

—Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at shawnb.18. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.

—Staff writer Claire A. Michal can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at ClaireMichal.154.