I hope and pray that the security guard that was wounded in this incident is able to survive, and my thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends. I think the angle I want to highlight here, is that this shooter was there to kill, and thus gets the title of ‘active shooter’. And the ones that responded and were able to stop him from killing, are the security guards. It wasn’t a SWAT team, or a special forces team, or some other SRT team, it was trained and ready to go security guards.
Without a doubt, today’s security professionals who carry weapons are completely aware of the active shooter scenario. That timing is everything, and you cannot wait on the cavalry to stop something like this or people will die. It is on the first responders (a security guard with a gun or even a private citizen with a gun) to stop it, and that is the reality of security and crime in today’s world.
The more we can train and keep on top of the best industry practices for dealing with active shooters, the better. It sounds to me like these guys did what was necessary to stop the guy, and certainly sacrificed to stop him. Right now, a security guard is sitting in a hospital bed hanging on to dear life, but because of their courage, they did their job and stopped this asshole.
It also sounds like the shooter was prior military and WW2 veteran, a member of MENSA, a white supremacist and had a criminal background. And what did he do? He decided to engage targets in a museum, before going through the screening machines and stations. So the targets would be anyone in that lobby or security guards in this scenario, and he bypassed the security apparatus, and made the security station area the target area. The shotgun is also a perfect weapon for shooting at multiple targets at close range, and quickly. Oh, and I guess he had a book as well, and possibly this was a way to promote his book. Now this guy is in the hospital, thanks to the good work of some security professionals. –Matt
Edit: The guard has died. Rest in peace, and thank you for your sacrifice.
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2 People Shot at U.S. Holocaust Museum
By Debbi Wilgoren and William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 2:52 PM
A gunman armed with a shotgun walked into the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in downtown Washington today and opened fire on a security guard before being shot and seriously wounded by two other guards, authorities said.
The security guard and the gunman were both transported to George Washington University Hospital with serious injuries, police said. A hospital spokesperson declined to release information on the condition of the two.
A third person sustained minor injuries in the shooting, according to police.
A law enforcement source identified the gunman as James W. von Brunn, who is known to authorities as a white supremacist.