NORTHAMPTON — Thornes Marketplace is one of the one of the cornerstones of Northampton’s downtown, with a steady flow of foot traffic throughout the shopping center ensured by its connecting Main Street with the E.J. Gare Parking Garage.
But in a country that currently averages nearly two mass shootings a day, that popularity could also make Thornes a potential target — a fact that isn’t lost on its ownership and management.
“We’re chronically inundated with those types of statistics,” said Jody Doele, the co-owner and marketing manager for Thornes. “We feel like we’re a little bit of a destination downtown, so we probably run a greater risk than the average business.”
While shootings are relatively rare in Massachusetts, it isn’t unheard of for a mall to be the site of sudden public violence, including in the Pioneer Valley — in January, a Springfield man opened fire at the Holyoke Mall, killing one person.
Doele said she felt it was the responsibility of Thornes to take preventive measures should a similar incident ever arise downtown.
“It’s almost like not an if, but when thing, unfortunately,” she said. “It may not be here, but it may be somewhere in our community and we just feel like we have a responsibility to prepare in the best way we can.”
To address the concern, Thornes staff and business owners plan on holding a training session at the mall on what to do in the case of an active shooter situation. The training will be provided by Protective Advanced Safety Services (PASS), based in Agawam and founded by two longtime law enforcement officials, John Nettis and Steve Grasso.
“The first thing we want to teach is the typology of personality traits that contribute to mass violence,” Nettis said. “Some of it would be drugs and alcohol, mental illness including depression and suicidal ideations; stalking is a big part of it.”
The mandatory training session will be scheduled for a Sunday sometime in the fall, and will teach how to alert employees when an emergency event is occurring, how to identify “red flags” among shoppers and employees, methods of barricading doors, and how to communicate with police.
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But in a country that currently averages nearly two mass shootings a day, that popularity could also make Thornes a potential target — a fact that isn’t lost on its ownership and management.
“We’re chronically inundated with those types of statistics,” said Jody Doele, the co-owner and marketing manager for Thornes. “We feel like we’re a little bit of a destination downtown, so we probably run a greater risk than the average business.”
While shootings are relatively rare in Massachusetts, it isn’t unheard of for a mall to be the site of sudden public violence, including in the Pioneer Valley — in January, a Springfield man opened fire at the Holyoke Mall, killing one person.
Doele said she felt it was the responsibility of Thornes to take preventive measures should a similar incident ever arise downtown.
“It’s almost like not an if, but when thing, unfortunately,” she said. “It may not be here, but it may be somewhere in our community and we just feel like we have a responsibility to prepare in the best way we can.”
To address the concern, Thornes staff and business owners plan on holding a training session at the mall on what to do in the case of an active shooter situation. The training will be provided by Protective Advanced Safety Services (PASS), based in Agawam and founded by two longtime law enforcement officials, John Nettis and Steve Grasso.
“The first thing we want to teach is the typology of personality traits that contribute to mass violence,” Nettis said. “Some of it would be drugs and alcohol, mental illness including depression and suicidal ideations; stalking is a big part of it.”
The mandatory training session will be scheduled for a Sunday sometime in the fall, and will teach how to alert employees when an emergency event is occurring, how to identify “red flags” among shoppers and employees, methods of barricading doors, and how to communicate with police.
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Must be those right-wing un-woke white supremacist folks doing all this mass shooting... right? 
![[rofl]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/013.gif "ROFL [rofl]")
