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Mourners gather for a candlelight vigil to remember Sandy Hook Elementary shooting victims, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012 in Newtown, Conn. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

In early October, Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd of thousands of concertgoers who attended the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas. According to authorities, 58 people were killed and hundreds of others were injured. The incident is considered the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. modern history.

Since then, other mass shootings have occurred throughout the country, including Devin Patrick Kelley who killed 26 people at the First Baptist Church in rural Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Nov. 5.

And a grim anniversary today, when 5 years ago, 26 educators and children died at Sandy Hook elementary.

These episodes raise questions about whether it is still safe to be out in public and whether people know how to protect themselves if under attack.

Wake Forest University Emergency Manager August Vernon spoke with intern Beatriz Caldas at WFDD about mass shootings in the United States. SEAN BUETER/WFDD

WFDD's intern Beatriz Caldas spoke with Wake Forest University Emergency Manager August Vernon. Vernon is a 25-year public safety official veteran and an experienced first responder. He has an extensive background dealing with deadly emergencies, including mass shootings.

Interview Highlights On how Wake Forest University prepares itself and its community for possible mass shootings and other incidents:

Our campus police department, like many others, goes through some active shooter training on how they will respond to this. So, one [thing we do] is training the responders, the other one is training the community how to respond. Also, we at the institution level will tend to do training and exercises where we will do some type of exercise, almost a simulated situation, so the university leadership knows how to respond to that and how to manage that. And we really have a great relationship with the Winston-Salem Police Department, the county sheriff's department, [and] all our local law enforcement agencies that we rely on to help us. We all work together on a pretty regular basis.

On what the general public can do to protect themselves:

So there's a couple of things that the general public can do. The first one is there is some training that's called 'Run, Hide, Fight.' It's available on YouTube. Also, we live in a world where it seems people are paying less and less attention. So a lot of times what I would do when I'm at a public location or anywhere is I just kind of pay attention. Where are my exits, who's around? And that's not a paranoia, that's just a general awareness of your environment. Same thing when you get on an airplane. I hope everyone listens to the safety briefing, which I think most people don't. I certainly do. Just where are my exits, who's on the plane, what do I need to do if something happens. I think it's just being aware of your surroundings, and have a plan, that's the key thing to talk to people about. Have a plan if you're in a movie theater, you know where the exits are at, if you're in a mall, would you know how to leave the mall? And sort of a third thing is for the general public to learn some basic first aid.

It is understandable that people feel scared about going out in light of recent events. But should they avoid outdoor venues and public places?

"It's an unfortunate reality and unfortunate fact of life, but I don't think that means that we can't go out anymore and we can't do the things that we like to do."

Story does not include AP content

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Keri Brown

A new report says North Carolina is fourth in the nation for the number of school shootings since the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut two years ago.

Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America released the information Wednesday. They say there have been at least 94 school shootings in 33 states around the country. The data was collected for incidents that occurred at colleges, as well as K-12 schools.

Six of the shootings were in North Carolina, including a shooting at Salisbury High School in February 2014, and at Carver High School in Winston-Salem in August 2013.

“That’s not a ranking that any parent, any student, any principal, any teacher wants to see that we have the 4th most school shootings in the country,” says Jackie Holcombe, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

Holcombe says the report shows that many of the students who perpetrated these shootings had easy access to guns at home.

“It’s disturbing, and I think it’s a question that we need to ask. Is there enough being done to teach gun safety? Is there enough being done to teach conflict resolution? Is there enough being done to store weapons safely and securely from minors?” says Holcombe.

The groups looked at statistical information from the shootings in each state ranging from suicides to assaults that came from arguments that escalated.

The report says Georgia is the state with the highest number of school shootings since the Newtown incident, followed closely behind by Florida.

Follow Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

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