A big hat tip to Matt for sending me this video. This thing was actually made before the Aurora Colorado shooting, so it’s timing was not planned. Either way, it is some great information for the public. (City of Houston put it together)
Now of course my readership tends to be more security related, but I also have a significant readership that is not. Most importantly though is that the security related readership here can take this video and spread it around in their networks. They can actually show a client this video, and then they can have a discussion about it.
The other point that needs to be made is that these active shooter incidents happen very fast. Lots of damage and killing happens within a very short period of time, and law enforcement is often not able to respond fast enough because of this factor. Logic says that the only thing that is going to save the people caught in the attack, are the people themselves. Videos like this will give people the kind of knowledge they need to survive such an incident, or at least give them better odds at survival.
We also need to emphasize the correct mindsets to have. You would hope that there would be a few folks in a crowd that will step up and take out the shooter. But sometimes that is not the case, and because these incidents are so fast and lethal, that some folks are not able to think through the problem fast enough to win. The Run Hide Fight concept is a good one, because it addresses the diversity of a crowd and each person’s ‘fight or flight’ response. It is an easy set of decisions to keep in mind, with Running being the top.
It is also smart to keep people moving so a shooter has a harder time killing them. If people stop and curl up on the ground in a ball, thinking that will protect them, they are wrong. If people are moving, they are a harder target. Just think of this one–in the 2008 Mumbai attack in India, those terrorists used rifles to kill most of their victims. (164 killed, 308 wounded) In this Aurora killing, a rifle was used to do most of the killing. To hit a moving target is much harder than hitting a stationary target, so it needs to be emphasized that people need to get moving.
So running is a good option–or basically keep moving to escape and survive. If there is no escape, then hiding (hopefully within some cover) or fighting are your next best options. (this is for those who are not security folks). If you are a sheepdog type (military, veterans, police, security contractor, empowered citizen, etc.) then stop that shooter!! End it by any means necessary and solve the problem immediately.
Pretty cool and I certainly hope it saves some lives. It is also an excellent training tool that companies and security professionals can pass around and talk about. Knowledge is power, and stuff like this empowers the people. –Matt