Following a number of shootings across the country, tonight Galesburg Police met with the community to talk to them about how to respond in an active shooter situation.
At Carl Sandburg College, Sgt. Dan Hostens from the Galesburg Police Department gave people advice. He says people need to take a more proactive approach.
"Most of the time they're trying to create as many casualties as they can in a short amount of time, because they know the police are coming," said Hostens.
Hostens says people should immediately try to escape, if there's no way out safely there are a few things you can do, from throwing chairs or finding a way to distract the shooter so you can get away.
"You may have to respond, as opposed to sitting back and being another victim," said Hostens.
Hostens also says make sure to call 911, while it seems like the obvious thing to do, many times people assume someone else had already called.
According to Gun Violence Archive there have already been 44 mass shootings this year in the U.S.