COLUMBUS – As police responded to an attack at Ohio State University, school officials broadcast an ominous message to students with a set of instructions: “Run hide fight.”
It’s a mantra that has become standard at many colleges in the event of a shooting. It’s meant to tell people near the shooter to run somewhere safe, to hide and to fight as a last resort.
Buckeye Alert: Active Shooter on campus. Run Hide Fight. Watts Hall. 19th and College.
— OSU Police (@OSUPOLICE) November 28, 2016
It was included in the Buckeye Alert sent to students, faculty and staff within minutes of an attack on campus Monday morning.
“I live on South Campus and the shooting [was] on North Campus so I heard a ton of sirens zooming into campus. It was very scary,” said Jordan Studer, a sophomore from Galion who remained in her dorm room after getting the alert.
The phrasing was coined in a 2012 video by Houston after the theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado. Many other schools including Georgetown University and New York University have adopted the catchphrase.
Some critics say that the idea is an oversimplification and that each of the three rules has flaws. Running from a safe spot, for example, could accidentally lead someone to the shooter. Especially in K-12 schools, some say, simply locking down is a better strategy.
“The fighting part has been very controversial and not widely accepted,” said Ken Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services, a national school security consulting firm based in Cleveland.