Top security expert weighs in on weekend mass shootings

AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - With dozens of tragic deaths in El Paso and Dayton over the weekend, security expert Fred Burton believes change is still a while away.

“These kinds of horrific events are continuing,” he said.

Burton is asking all cities, including Austin, if a mass shooting breaks out, do you have a plan? 

“I think what we will see as a result of this is additional businesses looking to hire off-duty uniform police officers to be there, not only as a deterrent but also to be able to very quickly respond to events such as this,” said Burton, VP of Intelligence at Stratfor.

Burton believes America is slowly becoming immune to news of mass shootings.

“The social media and news cycle certainly covers these mass shooting events with more news coverage and more stories about them which I think is a good thing, but I also think it could potentially lead to additional attacks,” said Burton.

Copycats are out there and Burton feels it's time for cities to be proactive and not only reactive.

“This is the kind of national security problem that really as a society, we need to put the best minds in the business together, to try to look at this not only from a law enforcement perspective, but mental health and certainly the gun issue comes into play,” said Burton.

Most of all, he hopes people can learn to have a mass shooting plan in their minds and know how to escape when the shots ring out.