On April 16, 2007, in what was then the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, 32 people were killed on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, and more than a dozen were injured.  
Since then, the frequency and intensity of mass shootings across the United States have increased. Shooters have attacked adults and children in universities, community colleges, elementary schools, offices, shopping centers, movie theatres, churches, temples, and other gathering spaces.
As law enforcement and government agencies learn more about mass shooters and mass-shooting events, they have identified best practices for survival. The message is simple – RUN to leave the area; HIDE if you can’t leave; and as a last resort, FIGHT. Your survival may depend on whether you are aware of your surroundings and have a plan before a gunman attacks.
The day after the shooting, poet and professor Nikki Giovanni proclaimed, “We are Virginia Tech. We will prevail.”  On the tenth anniversary of this attack, members of the UVA community joined Virginians and Americans across the nation in remembering those who died.