Just as the emotional impact of an active shooter event is greater when it occurs anywhere close to where you live, when one occurs that is somehow related to your employment, it can be felt in greater form as well. That was the situation when an attack occurred at the Rite Aid Distribution Center in Aberdeen, Maryland – a relatively small city located northeast of Baltimore, MD. For all those who worked for Rite Aid at the time, when the attack was reported on the news, it created a, “Wow. That could have been here,” kind of moment.
On the morning of September 20, 2018, Snochia Moseley – an African American female – reported for work as usual but then, just a few minutes after nine a.m. used a 9mm handgun to begin shooting her coworkers. It’s interesting that almost all of the media reports carefully avoided any mention of Moseley’s race or gender for fear of appearing racist or sexist, but in the case of active shooter events, she is rather unique. While it might be easy to name several active shooter attacks committed by white males of any age, how many can you name committed by a black female? The very fact that it’s unique is why it should be brought up in training and reference presentations. It’s an example of why we must not make assumptions during our response to such events.
The first call reportedly came in to the emergency dispatch center in Harford County at 9:06am and the first officers called out on the scene by 9:09am. Interestingly, agents from the local FBI office, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms all responded along with police officers from the Maryland State Police, Maryland’s Department of Transportation Police, Maryland Natural Resources police and three different local police departments. The response, according to one witness, was as it should be: “…we got completely bombarded by 20-30 cops, and then ambulances and everything started pouring in.”
The shooter, Moseley, was 26-years-old at the time of her attack and, after shooting six workmates, ended her attack by shooting herself in the head. She didn’t immediately die but was transported to a local hospital where she eventually died from her self-inflicted wound. Reportedly armed with a Glock Model 17 9mm handgun, per hospital statements, Moseley shot each victim one time, most of them in the torso.
After the attack, during the post event investigation, no firm motivation was reportedly confirmed. At least one major news outlet tried to relate the attack to Moseley’s reported gender confusion and attached years of mental illness. No length of employment time could be found and confirmed, but statements made by several witnesses indicated that Moseley had worked there long enough that there was no discomfort around her from her fellow employees and that the attack came as a complete shock – as they all do.
As active shooter events go, the only thing truly unique about this one was the race and gender of the attacker. Shooting six people in three minutes (or less) isn’t remarkable (as sad as that is to say). The casualty time ratio could run anywhere from as fast as one-victim-per-five-seconds to one-victim-per-30 seconds. With an average “fast” rate set at about one-victim-per-eight-seconds, there’s a greater chance that Moseley’s was at the slower end depending on how soon into her attack she shot herself.
Joshua Borelli
Joshua Borelli has been studying active shooter and mass attack events over the course of the past several years, commensurate with receiving training on response and recovery to natural disasters and civil disturbances. Joshua started to outline this series of articles in an attempt to identify commonalities and logistical needs patterns for response.
