After a gunman started shooting patrons inside the Borderline Bar & Grill in Southern California, Madalena DeAndrea and a group of others took shelter in the building’s attic.
It was pitch black, and Madalena’s survival instincts kicked in. She also had a lifeline — her phone.
Madalena is the daughter of retired Deputy Chief A.J. DeAndrea from Arvada, Colorado, who responded to the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. Thus, she knew to stay quiet and listen keenly to the sounds coming from below. Gunfire meant danger. Sirens meant safety.
She first texted 911, but the feature was unavailable to her location. “That was a real defeat for me.”
At one point during the rampage, Madalena started a group text with her parents and younger sister. She sent a message that had special meaning in her family.
“I love you guys,” she texted.
Madalena and the others who found safety in the attic survived the Nov. 7, 2018, bar shooting in Thousand Oaks, California. Twelve people, including a sheriff’s sergeant, were killed and more than a dozen were hurt.
Madalena recounted her harrowing experience on Aug. 22 during the National Threat Assessment Center Violence Prevention Symposium in Denver.
The day-long event, held at the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum, was coordinated by the U.S. Secret Service’s Denver Field Office and the National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC).
NTAC was established as a component of the Secret Service in 1998 to provide research and guidance in direct support of the agency’s protective mission, and to others with public safety responsibilities. Since the 1990s, NTAC has been conducting research, training, consultation and information sharing on threat assessment and the prevention of targeted violence. NTAC has studied attacks directed at government agencies and officials, workplaces, K-12 schools, institutions of higher education and other public spaces.
The Violence Prevention Symposium featured presentations from NTAC researchers, frontline prevention practitioners and mass violence survivors, highlighting strategies in behavioral threat assessment, practical recommendations for strengthening threat assessment programs and stories of resilience from those directly impacted by targeted violence.
Social Science Research Specialist Kevin Maass, of National Threat Assessment Center, discusses “Behavioral Threat Assessment: A Framework to Prevent Targeted Violence,” during a session at the Violence Prevention Symposium.
Supervisory Social Science Research Specialist Ashley Smolinski, of National Threat Assessment Center, discusses “Behavioral Threat Assessment: A Framework to Prevent Targeted Violence,” during a session at the Violence Prevention Symposium.
(From Left to Right:) Timothy Wagner, Domestic Violence Extremism Analyst at the Colorado Information and Analysis Center; Heilit Biehl, CTM, Director of Threat Management for Kaiser Permanente; Brett Cogswell, Training and Outreach Coordinator for Safe2Tell; Dr. Sarah Goodrum, Research Professor in the Prevention Science Program at the University of Colorado Boulder; and Ashley Smolinski, a Supervisory Social Science Research Specialist for NTAC, take part in a panel presentation on Enhancing Bystander Awareness and Reporting during the Violence Prevention Symposium.
More than 350 people, including law enforcement, first responders, private sector security, workplace violence experts, government partners, analysts, mental health professionals, community support and healthcare personnel and faith-based leadership attended.
Now the senior manager of strategic projects, recovery and resiliency for Jeffco Public Schools in Jefferson County, Colorado, Madalena speaks publicly about resiliency and post-traumatic growth. She discussed recovering mentally and the team of support that she built since the tragedy.
Speaking in a state that has a history of mass shootings, NTAC Chief Dr. Lina Alathari said prevention is the best form of protection against targeted violence and mass casualty attacks, and behavioral threat assessment is the agency’s proactive approach to prevention.
“We want to be able to identify individuals who might be exhibiting concerning or threatening behavior, gather information to assess if they pose a risk of violence, and apply the appropriate interventions to manage that risk.”
Targeted violence is preventable, but communities must have the tools and resources to recognize warning signs and then be able to intervene, she said.
“We all have a role to play,” Alathari said. “This event that the Secret Service is hosting today illustrates the most important part of prevention – partnerships. No one can do this alone. We all rely on each other. It’s not solely a law enforcement issue. It’s not solely a mental health issue. It’s not solely a workplace issue. It’s an issue that impacts all of us.”
The symposium was designed to teach attendees about a proactive model for violence prevention. NTAC has researched all forms of targeted violence, including violent attacks on schools, universities and houses of worship.
“This proactive approach pioneered by the Secret Service has been adapted by many agencies, so now you see schools, workplaces, law enforcement agencies and others establish behavioral threat assessment programs,” Alathari said. “In addition, many states are mandating behavioral threat assessment programs as the best practice to keep schools safe. Or at least, if they’re not legislating it, they are releasing statewide model protocols. We at NTAC have consulted with many states on establishing these kinds of programs.”
Last year, NTAC conducted more than 300 sessions nationwide to over 40,000 attendees, including law enforcement personnel, educators, mental health professionals, private businesses, faith-based organizations, government agencies, colleges and schools. That is part of a 56% increase in training events and a 92% increase in participants over the two-year periods from FY21-22 to FY23-24.
In conjunction with its recent release of new violence prevention guidance for law enforcement, titled Behavioral Threat Assessment Units: A Guide for State and Local Law Enforcement to Prevent Targeted Violence, NTAC hosted a virtual training event which registered more than 23,000 participants from all 50 states and 94 countries.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser thanked the U.S. Secret Service and NTAC for its work in this area.
He said, like NTAC, he believes that targeted violence in many cases is preventable.
“To the extent we can work together on the prevention side, on raising awareness, on building partnerships and purpose,” Weiser said, “we can make an impact.”
It’s also important to learn from the tragedies that have occurred, as well as taking threats seriously and enabling people in the community to have a mechanism to report information they have about potential threats.
“Sadly, in Colorado, we have learned these lessons the hard way,” Weiser said.
Building stronger communities and bolstering communications networks is important to stopping potential threats, he said.
“We need to take these threats seriously. Not necessarily punitively, but with vigilance. Not every threat is going to lead to a crisis, but it should lead to vigilant awareness and evaluation,” Weiser said. “We need empowered bystanders. When good people are alert and when people who see something say something, that’s how we can capture warning signs and take action.”
Special Agent in Charge Peter Angelone, of the Denver Field Office, said he hoped that those who attended the event found the presentations “enlightening and valuable.”
“Our goal is that everyone here leaves with at least a few important takeaways that can be applied in their everyday duties no matter what they are,” SAIC Angelone said.
