Survive a Public Shooting: What to do/look for before, during and after
Photo by freerepublic
Public shootings are becoming more prevalent all over the world. The most common targets tend to be In the work place, in shopping malls, and worst of all in schools, But anywhere that people gather can become a target, churches, restaurants, state and federal buildings, nightclubs, grocery stores, public events, sporting events, even playgrounds. It can be an act of terror, the twisted thoughts of a psychopath, a scorned lover, a delusional stalker, an angry employee or co-worker, a suicide attacker or even a confused and angry child. What set off the shooter may have absolutely nothing to do with you. Even the tightening of gun laws across the world has not completely stopped these sudden unprovoked attacks. There is no way to predict where or why the next shooter may strike, only that eventually they will. So if you happen to be in the vicinity of the next public shooting how can you protect yourself and what should you teach your children to do if they happen to be there without you?
1. Preparing prior to an event.
- Talk to your child’s school and find out what their plan is should they be in this situation. Find out under what circumstances they lock down the school and what their plan B is if things get out of hand and perhaps the police don’t arrive immediately, hostages are taken, alarms are set off etc… will the students and teachers remain in their rooms cowering under desks?
- Learn where a parent would pick up his/her child after such an event as well as their plan for counseling children after this event.
- Be calm but honest with the child. Make sure it is something they understand that they need to be aware of but not so concerned that they are frightened. That can be a fine line that only a parent can accurately determine.
- Teach your children what gun shots sound like! That sounds simple and perhaps silly but how many times have you heard of a witness saying they thought what they heard was a car backfiring or fireworks?
- Assure your child/children feel safe to trust their instincts and that is it ok to speak up to a trusted adult if they see or hear anything that makes them uncomfortable. Like a classmate discussing guns or a stranger hanging around.
- Insure with school officials that your child will not be identified as the reporting party and then reassure your child that no one will know they told and that they could save many of their friends lives by telling what they know, Make sure the child knows that reporting and tattle-tales are different things!
- Have the confidence as an adult to speak up about anything odd or unusual you may have seen in the building to security, a teacher, or manager etc… trust your instincts. Better to be wrong and look foolish perhaps than to be right and the results be deadly.
- Remind yourself, your family, or any group that you may be with, that joking about this subject is not funny and can land you in interrogation particularly if in an airport or on any other form of public transportation.
- Keep your everyday carry with you unless required to leave it at the door by security like in court houses and some schools. Or it must be in checked luggage on an airplane.
- Explain to your family especially the children what happens to a person’s mind and body when suddenly under this kind of stress. Physically freezing and emotionally disbelieving are the two most common reactions help them plan what they can do to shake themselves out it. The sooner they get by those reactions the faster they can take the necessary steps to save themselves.
- Teach children what the fight or flight instinct is and how to control it to their advantage in a crisis scenario.
- If the school or a particular public place is one you often frequent, learn more about the buildings exits, types of locks on the gates, where security is and the easiest way to contact them etc…
- Depending on the probability of such an occurrence happening in your child’s school, many parents are purchasing bullet proof backpacks.
- Cell phones can have all service outside of 911 locked out during school hours so that your child obeys the school rules regarding cell phone use during classes but still has the ability to call for help.
- Be aware of your surroundings, if someone is carrying an overly large bag or carrying a bag in an odd manner, it may be an indicator that the person is carrying something dangerous in the bag. Unattended bags are also unsafe and should be reported.
2. If a shooting occurs.
- If a parent or known adult is in view of your child they should go to them immediately.
- Seek an escape route prior to looking for cover. If you are near an exit use it immediately.
- Leave your personal items and packages behind, they will only slow you down and nothing in them is ever worth your life.
- When possible in a public places wear shoes that you can run in. If you’re wearing high heels or loose sandals kick them off, but be prepared to perhaps be stepped on if there is a crowd heading for the exit.
- If caught in a crowd at the exit stay as close to the wall as you can using your hands or arms to prevent being shoved into the wall and the wall to keep you from being knocked down.
- If in a store or mall situation, remember that most stores have separate loading docks and you could get out faster if not fighting the crowd to a public exit. Head for the back of the store you’re in which is where the loading docks are traditionally located. You may find that employees have already used that escape route or have frozen in place and may need a verbal push to unlock the storage area leading to the exit. The same is true of a school cafeteria there is usually at least 2 exits and an additional one for deliveries off the kitchen itself.
- Don’t be afraid to break a window, kick in a door or break the rules of where you are ordinarily allowed to go on the premises. Insure your children understand that those rules do not apply in this situation.
- Explain to your child that if this happens while they are at school it is ok to break the rules and run from the building if they can safely do so. Even if standard procedure is to lock themselves in a classroom.
- If the opportunity presents itself to run, do so, even if told not to by the shooter. Using a zig zag pattern and crouching down as you run makes you a harder target to hit and the further away you get the less damage a bullet will do. Most of the time, this increases your chances of survival. These people have nothing to lose and will shoot you whether you stay or go so being a moving target is to your advantage.
3. If unable to find an exit that doesn’t put you in the shooter’s path.
- Search for actual concealment. A chair or table etc.. isn’t going to stop a bullet nor adequately hide you. Look for a concrete barrier or support beam if in a mall or office, if in a school perhaps the large bookcases in the library and in any location any large piece of equipment. Teach yourself and your families what kinds of material will provide them with some real protection.
- Avoid restrooms and dressing rooms, they only have one way in and one way out and you would be easily trapped.
- If you are in a store within a mall and can’t exit, pull closed the barred doors at the front of the store and lock. If an employee is not available to lock those sliding gates jam them any way you can with anything you can then take cover in the back of the store. Even a tightly wrapped cord can hold them together long enough for them to fire randomly but then pass on to an easier set of targets.
- If the place your in doesn’t have a loading dock or a back door for deliveries then gather everyone you can in the room furthest back from the area the shooting seems to be coming from and barricade yourselves in. . If your lucky and he/she isn’t looking for someone in particular or has already found that target they may just walk through and randomly shoot anyone they see so being back further could keep you out of range.
- As soon as you are in as safe a place as you can locate call 911 and tell the dispatcher where you are in the building. Sometimes they can talk you to an exit you were not aware of, assist you with providing first aid for injuries, tell officers responding where you are in the building so they know you are not the suspect but an innocent civilian, and help you remain calm.
- Using a land line allows you to be easier to locate within the building, but if in an office setting the perpetrator is more likely to check or notice land lines that are lit up showing they are in use. The is because most office shooters have been to the location before and many even worked there in the past. So their mind goes over daily routines for the location.
- If you use a land line to call 911 or if you use your cell phone and are disconnected for any reason, shut the ringer off on the phone! People may start calling you right away to see if you are alright only to alert the shooter to your hiding spot.
- Look around your hiding spot and make sure you are actually out of view by mirrors and from all directions from which the shooter could come. Also to see what materials may be available to you to use as a weapon if confronted, cleaning supplies, tools, etc..
- Barricade your hiding place so if the shooter does find you, it is more work than it is worth to break in to get you. He/she will be more likely to fire randomly and more on. Once barricaded stay as far as you can from any doors and windows or thinner walls near the doors or windows as they are more likely to fire randomly around those areas.
- Shut off all the lights and equipment running in the room your hiding in. The more it appears the room has not been in use the less likely the shooter is to search it looking for more victims.
- Try to keep others hiding with you quiet. Whimpering, crying, mumbling etc… are all normal shock reactions but can give away your position.
4. If confronted by the shooter.
- Don’t stand quietly, fight back. In a group if at all possible using whatever materials handy for makeshift weapons, sharpened pencils, pens, fire extinguishers, or scissors aim for the eyes while pushing the weapon down and away from yourself. A coordinated attack from the group will throw the shooter off balance and the more attacking him/her at once the more likelihood of successfully disarming him/her.
- As hard as it is to do, try not to worry about the gun as you fight back. If you fear the gun you will avoid it subconsciously and that will make it harder to disarm the attacker. All you can do is remind yourself as stated below, if you are shot, help is near by in this situation increasing your chances of surviving this. Don’t attack or fight back half way, you aren’t just trying to get away momentarily as you have already determined there is no place at this time to run to. But fighting for your life literally and wholeheartedly without reservation.
- Don’t try to reason, bargain, argue, or plead with the shooter. It will only irritate them as they have already made up their mind to kill and in their state of mind will only hear this as upsetting noise.
- If they are going to kill you, they are going to do so no matter where you are. Avoid being taken hostage in any way possible. If they shoot you there, there are medical personnel outside or in route, others who can try to help etc.. if he/she has taken you to a dirt road in the middle of no where they are still going to shoot you, only now help isn’t readily available and your chances of survival decrease dramatically.
- Particularly helpful to women and children if the shooter is trying to take you hostage is to simply fall down or pretend to faint. They want a hostage they can use as a shield, who is mobile and appealing to the police. Falling or fainting makes you dead weight, worthless as a shield. Human nature is to either try and catch the falling individual, or simply let them go. Either reaction makes them vulnerable to group or law enforcement attack. No one on the run wants to drag along dead weight and if they think you are unconscious they are less likely to see you as any threat and shoot. Unless the hostage they are trying to take is male. For some reason tripping and falling or fainting draws a different reaction from these people… anger, If male your best defense is as stated above to simply refuse to cooperate knowing your survival chances are better where you are then at a secondary location.
- Risky but worth a try if no weapons are available to you is to play dead. It’s risky as if the shooter is thinking rationally he/she may realize they had not hit this area prior, that their isn’t enough or any blood, then execute you to insure you really are dead. Your body could also betray you in this scenario as your flight or fight instinct has kicked in and the adrenaline could cause you to twitch or jerk involuntarily giving away that you are alive.
5 Once the shooting stops
- If you are injured or near an exit leave with your hands up so that you are not mistaken for a shooter. Follow any instructions given to you by law enforcement.
- If you or someone near you is injured immediately begin to administer first aid and try again to get yourself or them out to medical assistance. Paramedics will not be allowed into the building until it has been cleared by police and getting to them rather than waiting for them to come to you may be faster.
- If uninjured and not near an exit you may be safer waiting for police to clear the building to insure they have the shooter and that it is not a group with more than one armed suspect.
- If able to, speak to authorities while the details are fresh in your mind and before speaking to any other witnesses whose view on what happened could re-shape your own. Everyone sees things differently and by adding your unique take on what you saw to that of another witness may make the whole picture clearer.
- If unable to tell your story immediately make notes to yourself of everything even if you feel it’s probably irrelevant. Again different views equal different totalities. As the shock sets in your memory will begin to doubt itself and try to make sense of what you saw and this can change the details.
- Unless authorities are certain they have apprehended all those involved in the shooting, don’t speak to the media. It is best if your name and face are not in the media as a witness who could identify those not in custody.
- If possible have someone else pick you up and drive you home. The adrenaline that helped you get through this alive is still coursing through your body and now it has no where to go. This can cause distraction, involuntary movements, or trouble breathing. Don’t expect to bounce back immediately either physically or mentally.
Prepare, run, escape, conceal, avoid, fight, and exit safely
