There’s a lot going on in the world of physical risk and vulnerability; it’s nearly impossible to keep up with the latest news and developments. We’ll keep you informed with the best content to keep your organization safe and secure. Check out the top news and headlines from the past month.

Mass shooting in Myrtle Beach tourist hotspot leaves 11 injured, suspect killed by police

From the Independent: At least 11 people were injured and one suspect was killed in an officer-involved mass shooting in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Myrtle Beach Police Department revealed on Facebook that officers responded to an incident at roughly 11:50 p.m. Saturday. Officers “observed a disturbance involving multiple individuals” on North Ocean Boulevard, the statement said. One person fired a weapon during an “altercation,” prompting an officer to respond by discharging their firearm. The officer wasn’t injured, but the suspect died as a result of their injuries.

Our take: Mass shootings have become unfortunately common, and this shooting, which seems to have sprung from an altercation between several people, is an illustration of what happens when people with emotional issues have access to firearms. It’s also an unfortunate truth that when one shooting happens, other potential shooters see that shooting as permission to perpetrate their own incident. Until mental health becomes a priority in this country, this will unfortunately continue to happen.

Kansas City firefighter-paramedic dies after being stabbed; woman charged

From KMBC News: A Kansas City firefighter-paramedic has died after being stabbed by a patient during a medical transport early Sunday morning, city officials announced.

Firefighter-paramedic Graham Hoffman, 29, was critically injured around 1 a.m. while transporting a patient to Saint Luke’s Hospital on Barry Road. Officials said the patient stabbed Hoffman during the ride. Additional Kansas City Fire Department and Kansas City Police Department personnel responded to the scene. Despite efforts by first responders and medical teams at North Kansas City Hospital, Hoffman died from his injuries.

Our take: This is a very sad situation, and also scary for first responders. Although we don’t know if the patient came into the ambulance with her own knife, she was able to attack and fatally wound the person who was trying to help her. In cases like this, it’s important to develop practices that protect our paramedics while they’re riding with patients.

Scammers continue to strike with unpaid toll texts

From Land Line: On Wednesday, April 23, the Kansas Department of Transportation issued a notice to the public about text messages “that falsely claim to be from KDOT and demand payment for unpaid tolls.” Not only does the department not request or collect payments via text message, it also is not the agency in charge of collecting tolls in the state. That responsibility belongs to the Kansas Turnpike Authority. Kansas isn’t the only state dealing with text scams. Residents in several states have recently been hit with a wave of fraudulent texts seeking unpaid tolls.

Our take: Owe a toll? If you’re getting a text about it you probably don’t. There’s been a nationwide increase in texting scams (also known as smishing) focused on allegedly unpaid tolls. Ignore them — tolls aren’t collected via text message.

April Top Security Grants

FY25 School Violence Prevention Program: The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) is the component of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for advancing the practice of community policing by the nation’s state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies through information and grant resources. To date, the COPS Office has appropriated more than $21 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of nearly 140,000 officers. Grant closes: June 18

Fiscal Year 2025 Safeguarding Tomorrow through Ongoing Risk Mitigation Revolving Loan Fund Program: The objective of the Safeguarding Tomorrow RLF program is to capitalize or recapitalize entity-established revolving loan funds that will provide low-interest loans to local governments most in need of financing assistance to complete hazard mitigation projects and activities. The program aims to reduce risks from natural hazards for homeowners, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and communities in order to decrease the loss of life and property, the cost of insurance, and federal disaster payments. Grant closes: September 30

Systems-Based Approaches to Improve Patient Safety by Improving Healthcare Worker Safety and Well-Being: The purpose of this grant is to advance system-level approaches to improve patient safety by improving healthcare worker safety and well-being. Patient safety cannot be fully achieved without healthcare worker safety and well-being. This NOFO will contribute to AHRQs goal of reinvigorating the patient safety movement by adding fresh perspectives and insights of healthcare professionals to efforts to improve patient safety. Grant closes: 2029

About the Author

Daniel Young

Founder & Chief Innovation Officer

Daniel has been a security and risk advisor for more than 10 years, and is passionate about helping companies to better understand their risks to undesirable events on a daily basis. Dan previously served as the Regional Bioterrorism Coordinator for District 1 in Michigan, where he was instrumental in preparing communities for catastrophic incidents. He has also acted as the Private Security Liaison for the City of Lansing’s Critical Infrastructure Team, which identified and documented deficiencies in the city’s critical infrastructure.

He is a Co-Founder of the CSO Risk Council, a think tank of seasoned security professionals and thought leaders with extensive experience in managing the physical security and risks of large enterprises consisting of multiple sites and whose mission is to create a better process to develop and share innovative solutions and pertinent information with organizations to improve safety and security risk by providing a forum to discuss best practices and recommendations for specific risk scenarios and to network with other enterprise security professionals.