National Crisis Case Study

On Nov. 30, 2021, just before 1 p.m., authorities received the first 911 call reporting an active shooter at Michigan’s Oxford High School. Eleven people had been shot, and three students were reported dead that day. As word of the tragedy quickly spread, the eyes of the nation turned to the small suburban town in Oakland County, Michigan, located 40 miles outside of Detroit.

In the hours following the incident, Identity was retained to manage the media and crisis response to the tragedy. Identity immediately mobilized an expert integrated team of media and social media strategists who would spend the next eight days providing counsel and responding to inbound local, national, and global requests from journalists and newsrooms.

Once engaged, Identity would spend the coming days working with media, providing counsel to the client and paying close attention to local, national and global coverage.

Clear objectives emerged as Identity drew on decades of crisis communications experience: to provide high-quality counsel and media training, navigating national, inbound media requests; to craft statements as events unfolded aligned with factual moments in time; to interface with press contacts, engaging with professionalism and sensitivity; and to monitor and analyze the national conversation.

Given Identity's solid roots in the Detroit area, success meant being a resource to the prosecutor's office–and the greater community–during a time of fear, grief and great uncertainty.

Throughout the next eight days, Identity provided detailed daily reports to the client summarizing coverage in the press and on social media. By monitoring the national conversation, the team was able to offer thoughtful, relevant insight into how key political figures–and the general public–were responding to the crisis. We were also on the ground with the prosecutor, responsible for coordinating two major press conferences aligned with key investigation announcements.

This crisis moment was unlike any other in history for those involved, and the incident may forever change how the general public views school shootings.