I was contemplating a new article for this blog last Friday. This is not a response to the Vegas tragedy. I felt inspired to write about an active shooter situation. We’d just done an active shooter exercise at work and so it was fresh in my mind.
Sunday September 30th, in Las Vegas another nut case let loose on unsuspecting, innocents. They were just enjoying a concert. The details are still being found but the shooter was a 60 something year old man. From some of the videos it sounded like he had an automatic weapon. A true “assault weapon.” Details are still sketchy but as usual with these cowards, he killed himself when someone confronted him. It was a little unusual that he shot from a hotel window down on a crowd.
Over the years I’ve talked to a lot of military, tactical, and law enforcement professionals who’ve spent their careers training and dealing with violent individuals: U.S. marshals, SWAT officers, and Special Forces operators. And I’ve asked them all this same question: What’s an average Joe civilian like me supposed to do when faced with a gunman who’s indiscriminately firing on people?
They’ve all answered the same way.
1.You’re on your own
I know this is much less than comforting. How is this information relevant? I think it speaks to situational awareness and other things. You can’t always control where you will sit during a large public event such as a concert or sporting event. But you can do your homework. As you come into the event, take note of the exits. Find at least another exit besides where you came in. Most shootings are over within 2 to 5 minutes. This means very few police will be on scene. There might be some security right there, but you are basically on your own. So, when your hear shots, don’t be like everyone else and say after the killing “I thought it was fireworks!” which is what everyone seems to think. When you hear those shots, go toward your pre-designated exit unless that would be toward the shots. Then choose your other exit. What’s the worst that can happen? You go back to your seat when it was found that it really was fireworks? Actually the worst is that it really is shots. But you have found a way out. Every situation is different but leaving and getting out of the area is best. Especially before it turns into a stampede. Do not freeze, act! It’s easy enough to assume all is well or to not know what to do. Don’t be like the rest of the sheep. This is called the normalcy bias. This causes people to act as if nothing is out of the ordinary. You must fight off this tendency and do something. Fireworks fits better with their brain than someone indiscriminately killing people. Do not be like everyone else, move, act, and be safe. Even in combat those in it don’t want to believe it.
2. Decide now what to do.
Once you’ve decided what you would do, work that plan when it happens. This will help you keep away from the normalcy bias. Work through scenarios and have a plan. Even if you have to alter the plan there is something in place.
Remember the OODA loop. Everyone, including the shooter, is running their loop. Observe, orient, decide, and act. He who finishes their loop first usually wins the fight. OODA Loops can begin way before an actual encounter starts. By coming up with a plan of what you would do in an active shooter situation before one ever happens, you’re already engaged in the second step: Orienting. Should you encounter a shooter, you can act immediately because you’ve already begun the cycle and already have a plan in place. Remember, ABO: Always Be Orienting. Because the world around you is constantly changing, orientation is something you can never stop doing. “ABO = Always Be Orienting” should become your mantra. With preparation you can always be one step in front of an opponent.
3. Maintain situational awareness wherever you go.
It drives my family crazy that I’m always throwing up scenarios to them. What would you do if this happened? Or that? It used to be a fun game but I guess I’ve turned it into an annoyance.
But we must be aware. I’ve written a lot on this subject so I won’t go into it all here again. I’m sure it will be in numerous articles to come.
Here are some of my previous articles on the subject:
Pearl Harbor and Situational Awareness 12/7/2016
Happy Situational Awareness Day! 9/26/2016
Situational Awareness...Again 8/2/2016
Seeing And Hearing An Attack 6/29/2016
Learning From San Bernardino and Terrorist Attacks 6/10/2016
Vigilance and "Some Sort of War" 8/6/2016
Let’s just review some of the basics.
Stay in Yellow. There’s no specific threat situation, but you have your head up and you’re taking in your surroundings with all your senses. Most people associate situational awareness with just visual stimulation, but you can also learn a lot about a particular scenario from sounds. This is especially true for active shootings. If you hear gunshots or something that sounds an awful lot like gunshots that should be a sign that you need to start immediately preparing to take action.
Though your senses are slightly heightened in Condition Yellow, it’s also important to stay relaxed. Staying relaxed ensures that you maintain an open focus, which allows you to take in more information about what’s going on around you. Research shows that when we get nervous or stressed, our attention narrows, causing us to concentrate on just a few things at a time. A narrow focus can therefore cause us to miss important details in our environment.
Remember to establish baselines. A baseline is what’s “normal” in a given situation, and it will differ from person to person and environment to environment. A baseline in an office would be people working at their desks or chatting in a lobby. A baseline at a restaurant would be people in uniforms coming in and out of the kitchen and customers entering and exiting the restaurant through the front door.
We establish baselines so that we can look for anomalies. Hearing gunshots at a college campus is definitely out of the ordinary, and should immediately trigger your active shooter plan of action. But let’s take a look at a subtler anomaly. If you’re at a movie theater and you see a guy entering the theater from the exit near the screen. That should definitely put you on alert. It could just be a guy sneaking in for a free movie, but it could also be a gunman. You don’t need to go and immediately tackle the guy, but you’d certainly want to keep your eye on him and make sure you’re prepared to quickly move out.
The experts say your best bet in an active shooter even is to Run, Hide, Fight.
Run
Running away should always be your first line of action. As soon as you hear gunfire, leave the premises immediately using your preconceived escape plan and get as far away from the shooter as possible. Ideally, you’ll be able to escape without having to cross the shooter’s path.
Hide
Sometimes running isn’t an option. Maybe the shooter is in front of the only exit and you can’t jump out the window because you’re on the fourth floor. If you can’t make an escape, the next best thing to do is to hide in a secure location.
Fight
When running or hiding have failed or aren’t viable options, it’s time to resort to plan C: Fight!
Most civilians don’t think they can take on an active shooter because, well, the shooter has a gun and they likely do not. But here’s the thing: it is possible for unarmed individuals to subdue or chase away an armed shooter. Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone, and Alek Skarlatos — the 3 friends who rushed a terrorist aboard a train to Paris — did it, saving dozens of lives. So did Frank Hall, a football coach who ran down a shooter and chased him out of a high school in Ohio before he could wreak massive carnage.
Remember that there is always something you can do. You don’t have to be a victim!
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
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