Keynote: The Apalachee Debrief
“Exploring what happened at Apalachee High School”
Keynote Speaker: Tom Czyz
Retired Homicide Detective and SWAT Team Operator
About Our Speaker
On December 14, 2012, our nation was shaken by the tragic murder of twenty first-graders and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. For Tom Czyz—a father, husband to an English teacher, SWAT operator, homicide detective, and active shooter expert—this was a call to action. Determined to protect America’s schools, Tom founded Armoured One LLC, bringing together top experts from SWAT, military special forces, federal agencies, and school staff to create a company dedicated to preventing active shooter incidents.
Since then, Tom and his team have responded to over sixty K-12 school shootings, including Sandy Hook, Parkland, Uvalde, Nashville, and Apalachee. He provides crucial debriefs and training to educate school administrators, first responders, architects, and policymakers on how to prevent and survive active shooter attacks. Tom also founded ONE Training LLC, now led by a school teacher, to provide certified active shooter training for various school staff roles, empowering them to save lives in emergencies. The effectiveness of this approach was proven when, during an attack, no one at a trained school was killed or injured except the attacker. Armoured One is now known as “America’s School Safety and Security Company.” Tom serves as Chairman of the Board for the National Safety Security Protection Association and as a Special Advisor for ZeroNow’s National Council of School Safety Directors.
Tom’s book, “Staying One Step Ahead: Ending the Story of Active Shooter in America’s Schools,” published by Forbes Books, quickly became the #1 new release in school security. Recognized globally for his expertise in active shooter preparedness and school safety, Tom has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Forbes, HBO, and The Washington Post. He has presented to government officials, school associations, and law enforcement agencies worldwide, collaborating with local, state, and federal agencies to protect schools.
For over eleven years, Tom has dedicated himself to safeguarding schools, earning recognition and gratitude from school leaders, law enforcement, the FBI, government officials, and countless families.
The Apalachee Debrief Summary
Presented by Tom Czyz
Tom Czyz will provide a detailed debrief of the Apalachee High School shooting, which occurred on September 4th. He will outline the timeline of events, explaining how a student was able to smuggle an AR-15 into the school by concealing it with a piece of poster board, waiting for hours before launching his deadly attack. The tragic result was the loss of two students and two staff members, with nine others injured.
Tom will address critical failures at multiple levels. Law enforcement failed by lacking preventive monitoring and detection systems. School administration missed key warning signs and did not implement sufficient security measures. The state of Georgia’s failure to provide necessary legislation and funding for enhanced school security also played a role in this tragedy.
Despite these shortcomings, Tom will highlight the actions that helped save lives, such as the staff and students who acted quickly and effectively during the lockdown, along with the swift response of first responders who neutralized the attacker. These takeaways underscore the need to learn from both the failures and successes of this attack to improve school safety nationwide.