Bipartisan bill would create push alert for active shooter incidents

A bipartisan group of Representatives introduced a bill to create a federal alert system for active shooter situations

A new bill proposed this week would develop a federal alert system for active shooter situations, which have increased by over 1200% between 2000 and 2020.

The FBI defines an active shooter as "an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area." Though they account for a small percentage of gun deaths, 333 active shooter incidents in the United States resulted in 2,851 deaths between 2000 and 2019, according to an FBI report released last year.

On Tuesday alone, there were active shooter incidents at Bridgewater College in Virginia, where two officers were killed, and at South Education Center in Minnesota, where one student was killed and another was left in critical condition.

A bill proposed in the House the same day would help sound the alarm when such incidents occur so that people nearby an active shooter incident would be sent up-to-date information on their phones.