Advancing Active Shooter Evacuation Systems in the Built Environment: A Systematic Review and Future Directions

Active shooter emergencies represent one of the most critical threats within the built environment. While numerous studies have aimed to enhance evacuation effectiveness, a comprehensive synthesis of existing research on evacuation systems for active shooter scenarios remains limited. This paper presents a systematic literature review of such studies, revealing that 1) current evacuation simulation systems lack real-time route optimization and rely on oversimplified floor plans, 2) evacuation facilitation systems overlook critical data such as shooter location and movement, and 3) evacuation training systems fail to offer scenario-specific guidance within actual building layouts. Based on these findings, this study outlines future research directions, including the development of IoT-enabled systems for real-time data sharing, advanced simulation models using detailed building spatial data, evacuation facilitation systems informed by active shooter dynamics, and training systems grounded in real-world building spatial data. These directions advance the understanding of active shooter evacuation by enhancing simulations, support systems, and training, ultimately helping reduce casualties in built environments.