Earlier this month, 34-year-old Omar Thornton shot and killed eight people at the Connecticut beverage distributor where he worked before turning the gun on himself. According to published reports, Thornton had just been asked to resign after being shown surveillance footage that allegedly caught him stealing beer from the business.

Thornton reportedly had a calm demeanor as he was shown the video. He signed a letter of resignation and was on his way out of the building when he suddenly pulled out a gun and opened fire.

We are told that from the moment a shooter begins firing his weapon to when the last round is discharged is as little as five seconds. Employers that intend to use crisis or emergency management will respond over those slain during the first five seconds. Prevention is the only effective, responsible and defensible solution.

Current programs utilized by employers are designed to react to incidents of aggression not prevent them. Crisis management is an investment in a crisis that already exists. As with this horrific event, Police were there as soon as possible, but it was too late. Workplace shooters are at the highest level of aggression, the murder/suicide. At this level of aggression, the perpetrator's goal is to give up his life for his cause and Omar Thornton personifies this example. If someone intends to murder another and then themselves, they will look for the easiest moment to achieve their goal; even though the cause for this perceived grievance occurred in the workplace.

But how do we get employers to think differently in an attempt to prevent these horrific acts of violence? Some are forming threat assessment teams, but these are individuals identifying threats that already exist. Even those who train their supervisors and managers in conflict resolution have failed the premise of prevention. Conflict resolution presupposes conflict, security managers are reacting to conflict after the fact, not preventing it. Since there are those who will express their conflict with violence, an organization that wants to prevent violence must first prevent conflict, thereby preventing any subsequent violence.