How To Respond To An Active Shooter

[mmckee1952]

How To Respond To An Active Shooter
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By: James England
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Whether you work in an office or out in the field, take classes at the local college or shop in the grocery store – you’re probably well aware of the risk of an active shooting. The rate of these events isn’t altogether high but the psychological damage they inflict on the psyche of Americans is absolutely staggering. In this article, we’ll attempt to go over what some professional organizations have advocated on how to respond to an active shooting event.
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Step 1: Deal With The Immediate Threat
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In an active shooting environment, if you are under fire, you are directly being threatened. Your safest bet is to immediately take cover. Cover can come in the form of anything you perceive has a decent ability to deflect your enemy’s attacks. This can come in the form of a dumpster, parked vehicle – anything that is nearby and suitable. Cover doesn’t need to be ideal, it just needs to work until you have the chance to move to safer ground.
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Step 2: Dealing With An Imminent Threat
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If you are not taking fire, the threat has not come to you, yet. You have time to work out what you’re going to do. And it should start with the following three recommendations from the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training playbook.
•Avoid
•Deny
•Fight
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Avoid the fight at all costs. This can include sheltering in place and barricading the doors and windows (Deny) and, if need be, improvising a weapon and fighting (Fight).
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Step 3: Moving From Cover To Cover Or Sheltering In Place
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If your position is not secure – i.e. in a barricaded room or similarly semi-secure location – you need to wager the odds of whether it’s worth moving. Because you cannot necessarily know how many assailants are involved in an active shooting environment or the location of law enforcement responding to the event, you will have to decide whether your current position is safe to stay until the situation is resolved.
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If the answer is ‘no’, then identify a more secure location of cover. You should only move from a position of cover if you are reasonably sure that where you’re at is less safe than where you are moving to. Otherwise, you’re just giving your assailant an opportunity to identify your hiding position and press his attack upon it.
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Step 4: Identifying Yourself For Law Enforcement
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When law enforcement arrives, they’ll likely be in a heightened state due to the danger they’re putting their own lives in to recover and save lives. It’s imperative that when you hear law enforcement moving, you identify yourself and immediately make sure your hands are completely visible. Law enforcement are trained to watch the hands because, as they’re often trained, “hands can hurt you”. Make sure your hands are visible, you make no sudden movements, and comply with all requests.
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Do not emerge from cover until the shooting or violence has stopped. You’re not helping law enforcement if you wander out into the middle of a firefight – you’re just exposing yourself and potentially hurting their chances of stopping the assailants.
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Read More: https://selfdefenserx.com/how-respond-a ... %20Shooter
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My Thoughts: Hope no one is ever put in this position, but if you are, maybe this info might give you a higher percentage to survive the situation in one piece.

[FiremanBob]

Good tactic for self-preservation. But my view is that if one has a clear opportunity to stop the threat to fellow citizens by taking out the murderer, one should take it. Waiting for the police is likely to result in additional unnecessary victims.

[kelu]

If history is any lesson (at Sandy Hook police waited 5 min at the door, in Orlando couple hours, etc), you're on your own.

[Reverenddel]

"How to Respond to an Active Shooter"....

Two to the chest, one to the head.

[Rualert]

"How to Respond to an Active Shooter"....

Two to the chest, one to the head.

This ^^^^^^

[skeeterss0]

yes, more people should attack the shooters, there would be less shootings and lower body counts. Many time's once a shooter is confronted by opposition they will either run or take themselves out.

[Jon]

There's no one right answer to this. It just depends.

In most cases I'm either looking for an exit with gun drawn or hunkering down behind cover with gun drawn. I'm not going to go looking for a fight.

If I happen to be in the immediate area of the shooter, lets say 25yds or less, they're likely to find out what bullets flying back at them feels like. The closer inside that range I am to them the more deliberate my shooting would be.


Of course that's ^ all assuming I'm by myself. If the wife or family are with me retreating safely is paramount unless I'm in very close range of the shooter, to the point where I had no choice upon trying to exit the situation.

[Swampman]

Yup, what Jon said. By myself is a very different situation than if I have family or friends along.

[M1A4ME]

"How to Respond to an Active Shooter"....

Two to the chest, one to the head.

Beat me to it, again.

[WRW]

"How to Respond to an Active Shooter"....

Two to the chest, one to the head.

Beat me to it, again.

I have never quite understood that drill. If the head shot is available, why play with your target?

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[M1A4ME]

The chest is much easier to hit.

It may not incapacitate them (being a fatal shot is not the same thing as stopping the threat). They may bleed out, eventually, but they can still harm you or others till they bleed out. Once they have been slowed down by the torso shots they have the choice of lying there no continuing the attempt to kill/harm others or they may keep trying to carry out their original aims/intents and you have to take the time to put a complete stop to their illegal and life threatening actions.

There has always been some fear that the person(s) committing such acts might have on bullet resistant or bullet proof clothing/vests and while a couple rounds to the chest might stun them or cause them to stop their actions temporarily it probably won't incapacitate them till the threat is eliminated.

It was used as a training aid/shooting drill for many years.

I'm old enough I remember when they started the double tap training/shooting drills. That was two fast/quick shots to the chest/torso. As more studies were done in the 70's and 80's they found that too often when the police would shoot someone that person would continue to fight/threaten/kill police officers. So they started teaching the idea/practice of shooting them twice. These days, with the smaller/lighter bullet calibers used by so many departments you often hear of the police shooting the bad guy(s) 5 to 15 times, or more.

If you've got to shoot a threat that many times to stop it then you've got the wrong gun/bullet or the wrong training. Think about it. How many deer would you get if you had to hit one that many times to put it down? Or squirrels, or rabbits? I know, game animals aren't armed, but still, if you had to use that many bullets to harvest that game animal, you'd starve. So why do we promote carrying self defense guns/bullets that can require that?

[WRW]

I found it interesting that the occurrence that led to the Mozambique Drill was actually terminated with a neck shot, though the intent was the head. And yes, if something doesn't work then do try something else.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Reverenddel]

Baylor drills help with shooting skills.

I might go 2/1, but "rinse/repeat" ain't outta the question.

[drewannrez]

First, if you are able to safely get away from the shooter, do so. Once away from the scene, prevent others from going toward the shooter and call 911.

Second, if you can’t safely run away, hide. Barricade doors and turn lights off. Take cover behind large objects and try to be as silent as possible.

Third, and finally, if you cannot safely run or hide, be prepared to fight. Improvise weapons and commit to defending yourself.

[Utah]

"How to Respond to an Active Shooter"....

Two to the chest, one to the head.

This is incorrect...

It's two to the chest, the rest to the face...

Dalai Lama

[MarcSpaz]