Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto helps craft guide for responding to mass shootings

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto didn’t have a playbook or checklist to refer to as his administration responded to the mass shooting at Squirrel Hill’s Tree of Life synagogue three years ago.

Now, Peduto and a team of mayors from across the country who found themselves in similarly tragic scenarios worked to produce the Mass Shooting Protocol and Playbook to help other mayors who may find themselves responding to mass shootings navigate the difficult circumstances. The protocol and playbook were unveiled at a webinar in mid-November.

Peduto was a leader in proposing the need for mayors and other city leaders to have such a resource at their disposal.

“Sadly, being prepared for a mas shooting is becoming more and more a critical part of a mayor’s job,” Peduto said Tuesday, hours after a school shooting in Michigan left three students dead and wounded six more people. “After Tree of Life, I spoke to other mayors who had led their cities through devastating crises and it was clear we needed a playbook to help other mayors prepare.”

The city worked with UnitedOnGuns, an initiative of the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law, and mayors and first responders from cities such as Dayton, Ohio; El Paso, Texas; Orlando and Parkland, Fla.; and San Bernardino, Calif. — cities that also dealt with mass shootings in recent years.

Two documents have emerged. The first, the First 24 Hours Mass Shooting Protocol, guides mayors through rapid response and offers a checklist of immediate actions. The second, the Mass Shooting Playbook, offers more than 200 pages of guidance to help mayors prepare for and respond to mass shootings, and to help survivors, families and communities recover from such events.

The playbook includes a case study on Pittsburgh and how Peduto and other local leaders responded to the Tree of Life attack on Oct. 27, 2018, in which a gunman killed 11 worshippers at the synagogue in what became the deadliest antisemitic in U.S. history. The case study is based on interviews with Peduto, Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich, FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Jones and Peduto’s Chief of Staff Daniel Gilman.

“The mayor’s response is noteworthy for his singular focus on meeting the needs of the victims and family members, his effective communications management, and for the relationship established in advance with the Jewish community that made it possible for law enforcement officials to warn synagogues throughout the city of the attack even when phone contact could not be established because it was the Jewish Sabbath,” the case study said.

The Pittsburgh case study highlighted how the mayor and other elected officials focused on helping families and survivors, specifically noting that Peduto visited wounded worshippers in the hospital, attended funerals when requested and coordinated with law enforcement to ensure the Jewish burial customs were respected.

The case study also highlighted active shooter training for the city’s Public Safety department and mayor’s office and coordinated news conferences with local leaders.

In the aftermath of the shooting, Peduto worked with Jewish community leaders to organize vigils and a monetary fund to support victims and families.

The protocol and playbook are available online.