We all hope it never happens, but news in recent years out of Las Vegas, Orlando, Charleston and Newtown have shown that active shooters are becoming an all too common occurrence in our society.

Thursday, Warren County Emergency management director John Elfer held active shooter training for the community and library employees at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.

The hour-long session focused on how to react if you find yourself in an active shooter situation and how to help your business, church or other potential target prepare for the worst.

The three main options, Elfer said, are to run first, then hide if possible and as a last resort fight back.

“Most active shootings are over in minutes,” Elfer said. “The average time that an active shooting occurs is 12 minutes, but the majority or a lot of them are over in less than five. You get mixed up in an active shooting, you call 911, do you need to wait on me to get there before you do something? No. You need to take action.”

The training was held Thursday after library director Katrina Stokes asked Elfer to train her new staff after there was an incident in New Mexico recently where two library workers were killed.

It is a sad reality that we must prepare our places of work and worship for potential of an active shooter.

Training sessions like the one offered Thursday are a free service offered by the emergency management department. Their goal is to help businesses, churches and other possible targets be better prepared in case the worst happens.

You hope the training is never needed, but you can never be too prepared.

Being prepared for an active shooter does not only include being off aware of your options if you occur. It also includes looking for signs that someone may be planning something or a coworker’s stark change in behavior or appearance.

“They may post something on social media,” Elfer said. “They may make a threat. They may send an email. If you see something, say something. We need to be encouraging our kids to do the same thing.”

If you are interested in having active shooter training at you office or church, you can call the emergency management office at (601) 636-1544.