Active Shooters: When Violence Is The Answer

NOTE: The following article was originally published over at DoomandBloom.net.

 

As a physician, my focus is how to heal wounds rather than how to cause wounds. A terrorist, however, has quite different goals. Normally, they have a short window of opportunity, and their focus is to cause as many casualties as possible during their brief (hopefully) remaining time on Earth.

I’ve been asked quite a bit lately about what to do in active shooter situations. My standard answer has been the same as that given by the Department of Homeland Security: Run, Hide, Fight, in that order.

Just as Stop, Drop, and Roll may save the life of someone on fire, Run, Hide, Fight may save the life of someone under fire. This is the order of the actions that I have been recommending in recent articles regarding active shooter situations.

This sequence of actions is based upon the expected lifespan of the attack, and the attacker, in an active shooter event. Most active shooter events are over in a few minutes. Following the Run, then Hide, then Fight paradigm is often effective in these short-term events.

When potential victims put distance between themselves and the shooter by running, they make themselves a more difficult target than someone laying on the ground two feet in front of the gunman. When targets remove themselves from the line of sight of a shooter by hiding in a different room, preferably with a barrier against the door, the gunman may, knowing his time is short, search for easier victims. Fighting back is recommended as a last resort; it’s a superior strategy to closing your eyes and taking a bullet to the head.

Which takes us to the Orlando shooting. This horrific event took a full three hours before the threat was neutralized. This amount of time gave the gunman ample time to seek out people that were hiding, often in bathroom stalls, and make casualties out of those that would have survived if the event had been terminated more quickly.

I’m not a member of a SWAT team, just an old sawbones, so I can’t comment on the time it took for SWAT team members to abolish the threat. I assume it had to do with concern about hostages and the safety of the team, all perfectly reasonable concerns.

I have seen accounts of brave individuals helping people out of the building, which certainly saved lives, but I have yet to see any 9/11 Flight 93 “let’s roll” moments which indicated that some of the bar’s patrons tried to stop the killing by dropping the attacker.

This disturbs me, as it is thought that the gunman fired off 200 rounds, something that would have required reloading magazines into the rifle multiple times. This was a rifle that the gunman had little experience with, so there must have been a number of opportunities to intervene in the killing and end the event. This, apparently, never happened and the casualties were a record for a lone gunman attack.

The “success” of this terrorist may serve as a blueprint for future attacks. If there’s an exit to run through, it’s still the best option, in my opinion. Always be situationally aware and mentally mark where those exits are anytime you’re in a crowd. But if a gunman has three hours to find you, is hiding the next best thing? If someone was given three hours to find you in your house or your place of work, what do you think of their chances? Probably pretty good.

This leads me to think that, in the Orlando shooting, fighting back would have cut down significantly on the casualties. Why did some of the 300 young and able people in the bar not take that option? It’s not as if the objective of the gunman wasn’t clear.

It all comes down to the natural paralysis that occurs when something happens foreign to the average person’s thought process. We are all victims of normalcy bias: that is, we believe the events of the day will follow a certain pattern, because they always have. When this pattern is broken by an atrocity, the human brain processes it slowly; denial and hesitation makes for a soft target. Certainly, becoming violent is not part of the mindset of the average person in most scenarios.

Yet, there are circumstances when violence is the answer. Statistics published in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin indicate a significant minority of attacks which ended before law enforcement arrived were aborted by a single citizen without a firearm. In fewer instances, a firearm-carrying citizen terminated the event and, in other cases, the shooter terminated himself or law enforcement arrived to do him (and us) the favor.

I’m not saying that it’s a great idea for 300 people in a bar to be carrying loaded weapons, but an unarmed citizen can still make a difference. The patrons of the Orlando nightclub where the shootings occur were, indeed, armed. There were bar glasses, bottles, and 300 cell phones that could have been used as projectiles to hurl at the gunman, while a number charged the attacker from different directions to drop him to the ground and grab his weapon.

This guy wasn’t James Bond. He would have been disconcerted by multiple attackers and objects thrown his way. He would have ducked and flinched, and would have had to make decisions as to who to shoot. I’m not saying someone might not have been killed attacking the gunman, but the fatalities would have been held to a minimum and the event would have ended with far less loss of life.

A faulty strategy doomed to failure? Well, three unarmed men were able to stop a shooter on a train in Paris a while ago without any fatalities. It may be extreme, but sometimes violence is necessary to prevent worse violence.

I recently saw a video of lions taking down a water buffalo. A few other water buffalo charged the lions, flipping one high into the air and ending the attack. When a herd takes action, the prey has a good chance of surviving.

It’s time for us to decide that we are not going to be soft targets for these mass murderers. It’ll take a major change in mindset to do it, but it might just save some lives in the end. Your life. The lives of friends and loved ones. Prepare physically and mentally to both avoid and confront these situations with commitment, and we might see a little more reluctance on the part of those who wish harm to decent people.

Joe Alton, MD

author, “The Survival Medicine Handbook

JoeAltonLibrary4-274x300

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27 Comments

  1. JBernDrApt says:

    Sad day in Dallas. Too many thoughts flying through my brain to articulate!!! Praying for America. Hoping for the best – preparing for the worst! – Keep Looking UP

  2. Capt.Michaels says:

    Thank you for bringing the other side to this topic JR. A good reminder. As far as the Dallas shootings. I’ve had communications with some people about the Dallas-Metro area in general. It seems to be the epicenter of a lot of bad stuff. Ahmed, the clock boy, the 2 lone terrorist shot at the draw prophet contest. I’m Not falling for it and I refuse to fuel it. Tragic, evil, and so sad for those officers/family. This is only a divide and conquer fueled by evil people and the current administration.

    I’ve always been very pleased with the Houston Metro area. People get pissed at this kind of junk, but it’s not the overall driver of people. Including the last officer murdered at the gas station. People in general here have better restraint. It’s pushed to the limits for sure and sometimes spills over in road rage, but over-all sensible people prevail. White, black, tanned, yellow, we are not scared and we are also not encouraging violence either. Bitter evil people can stew in their own hate.

    Here is just a few of the normal people trying to reach reason through their tweets. Your gonna get the uneducated SOB’s in tweets, facebook, you name it. That’s the way it is, but the majority of people refuse to blindly follow.

    Tyrone Miller ‏@TyroneMiller11 8h8 hours ago
    @JaredWy and divide and conquer. You are falling for it.

    Hrrathul ‏@hrrathul

    @TyroneMiller11 @JaredWyand Thank you for that reminder. God bless.

    Just alil twisted ‏@twisted_alil 1h1 hour ago

    @TyroneMiller11 @JaredWyand agree 100% we are not each other enemies gotta stop the division.

  3. Oren says:

    For Vito, I couldn’t listen to Obama in his address. I have yet to hear him with an uplifting message, it is always negative. It isn’t what he says sometimes, it how he says it and what he leaves unsaid. He is an artist in planting seeds. In fact, this shooting in Dallas, I lay at his doorstep for being such a divisive president.

    Capt. Michaels, you sir are correct. Over reaction is in my opinion what some segments of our society is hoping for. We can’t do that. I don’t know what the answer is, but we need a reset for all of our people. It seems someone or a group is trying to stir the pot in this country and we all need to pull together and put a halt to it. It is somewhat akin to the turmoil of the 60’s, and I certainly do not want to return to that. APC’s sitting on the town square or street corners in not the atmosphere I savor.

  4. Lightning says:

    Good article JR and Dr Joe.Fox news had the Texas Lt Gov on who said if folks want to help the
    family members of the murdered police to go to ATO Dallas.com. I will check it out later.
    It appeared that the last two black men who were killed could have been avoided by the police. Then again as a retired NYC Police Lt said no one protests or mourns when hundreds of police men and woman are killed across our nation .
    I will no longer listen to Obama say a word.
    We need justice to prevail on so many levels.I am praying hard and calling every Rep. I can.
    Of all times we need our right to bear arms. Arlene

  5. goingray58 says:

    On Dallas and others: I think in our zeal to not offend, be PC and let every opinion be equal as well as liberal propensity to misuse media and legal jurisprudence.. we have allowed gatherings we shoudl not have, and those that gathered are not well controlled. We are constantly behind the curve reacting to bad things, when the best role is prevention of the bad things. Even gatherings have rules. If they are spontaneous, they shoudl be quelled, not tolerated until the boil over and erupt. As well I would speculate that the vast majority of those gathering are not violent in intent. We have not done well and collapsing those in the minority who are there only to incite. Standard practice in many countries. Gather a bunch and hire professionals to whip it up in a frenzy.. It’s cheap and effective. That implies premeditation .. follow the money, tag them and prosecute them as terrorists as guilty as anyone who pulls a trigger. If it was driven as an incited event, what could the goal have been do you think ? You need look no further than the last couple months on due process, fire arms, etc..

    Run, hide, fight.. yup.. with a caveat that would be situational. I don’t think anyone gets past the paralysis he mentions, without practice and developed muscle memory. The majority ARE soft, not due to normalcy bias only, but in general. One might make the case for those that aren’t NOT running, hiding .. which essentially puts the sheep in the wolfs hands. Sheep Dogs aren’t built that way .. Of course not many sheep dogs would be in the Orlando club.. You only ever hear very few stories about those sheep dogs.. so they are repressed or they aren’t there.. Which do you think ?

  6. Panhandle Rancher says:

    Remember that post of mine about all of the junk I carry during travels? Some thought my everyday vehicle carry excessive. Anyone doubt the wisdom of Level IV plate carriers, combat helmet, and main battle rifle today?

    Take down those Texican don’t tread on me flags, scrape off the NRA life member decals, trade your state and US flags for the ISIS flag, dress your women in burkas, and set Pak flags at the perimeter of your property, cancel alarm monitoring service and use the money saved elsewhere. You will be under 24/7 protection by the local police and all of those three letter organizations. What’s more people will get out of the way of your women when shopping at the mall.

    World’s a dangerous place. Always has been and will continue to be so for some time. I’m disappointed in my fellow Texans for not putting that rabid dog down in seconds. Anyone remember the UT Texas tower shooter? Folks with rifles were stopped in the streets shooting back at the sniper – along with police. No one thought such unusual behavior – but that was back then.

    PR

      1. JR says:

        A CWP carrier may have been able to put down a Dallas shooter if close. One issue is if law enforcement sees a citizen CWP holder with a gun will they instantly be targeted by the police? I think so.

          1. Thomas The Tinker says:

            A Rant in respectful response: But are you LEO… I’m not. If you are LEO, do remember that the dispatcher calls to all responder’s was….”…be advised no plain cloths.. no plain cloths.. all responder’s must be suited up.. all responder’s must be suited up..” We should all take note of the video of the shooter… he had on his civis and a ‘vest’ any of us can pick up on line or at any Surplus operation without.. or with the LEO patch velcro-ed on the back.

            Everyone with the capability (Arms and Armor in the trunk of the car) could have done what in reality with that many ‘suited’ LEO… In that fast action…. IMO, I believe it would have started a ‘Friendly Fire Fight’ and the true ‘Perp’ would in fact done far more damage himself… as to the KIA and WIA due to friendly fire…..?? At the very very very least, non-LEO ‘help’ would have tied down nearly all the LEOs in directing people the hell out of the way if not ‘securing’ their weapons and cuffing them to a light pole or bus stop bench.

            This was an active shooter situation not an undeclared civil war. Run. Find a defend-able hard angle and stay the F – – k out of the way. It wasn’t “Back then”… it was rightFingnow. Come on.. EDC.. at a rally (or protest)…. lock blade and a pistol.. extra mag.. keys.. wallet (with CCL I hope).. cell phone.. hot dog money, loose change and your water bottle. Every been in a real riot? Prolynot. Every been on the streets during a City wide Police strike? Prolynot. Ever been shot at and missed.. Maybe. Ever been shot at and hit.. Prolynot. Until ‘Civil’ or other War is ‘declared’ or you are defending your digs in a riot… no rational man or women needs to spark one.

            Ok… end O Rant. Any ruffled feathers…. tough. JR… this thinking is Not a Good Idea.

    1. Capt.Michaels says:

      Oh no..let me tell you. There never has or is any doubt I would like to set my EDC like that. Which brings up a good point, other article later?

      EDC. I think JR has covered this as well as in your article. I think the biggest concern for me in EDC is not getting my stuff stolen out of the back. That and then of course the perishables. It’s so hot here I would have to constant swap out perishables do to leaching.

      Yeah, for sure Dallas, like I’ve said before. An epicenter of junk. People here any other parts of Texas/US have already demonstrated they will intervene in a cops behalf.

      http://www.sightm1911.com/lib/ccw/officer_peril.htm

      1. goingray58 says:

        Capt. I have the same EDC challenge on the food side.. There is no prohibition on carrying food in to work so it goes in an out with me every day in a second bag. 3 days food is fairly lite.. tougher if you don’t have that kind of location. I have a covered truck bed, so they can’t see it. When I rent a car for work or whatever I camo it .. either in a sinched trash bag. or a box with clothes on top. None of that does a thing if they take the vehicle of course. Half the time I look like a hobo or i’m moving but that works to my advantage maybe.. I’m building a second bag to use as a cache.. and playing with that and critical pieces staying on my person…
        Let me know what you come up with since I am probably over thinking it.

    2. JR says:

      PR – I think many who may have thought your truckload of equipment was over the top may think different today.

    3. JR says:

      TTT – Rant/opinion – whatever. I understand what you are saying and agree – and have said so – that a “good samaritan” armed jumping in the fight in a Dallas-like situation could likely end up being identified as a threat. Very likely. Being armed to respond to the threat as it is on you is another thing.

      PR will speak for himself but his described loadout is not necessarily for an “active shooter” situation. I look at it as a “any situation” that threatens his existence.

  7. Panhandle Rancher says:

    Having just re-read Dr. Joe above, I’d like to relate something actually told me recently by a newly minted 16 year old female driver. She had just wrecked her Mustang by driving too fast on wet curvy mountain roads. The vehicle slid from the road during a turn, spun (thankfully horizontally) and crashed into a (rare in these parts) guardrail.

    “I knew I was going to crash when the car skidded,” she said. “So I just turned loose of the steering wheel and tried to lay down in the front seat.”

    A winning strategy to be sure as she was speaking with me – uninjured.

    PR

  8. JohnP says:

    Dallas is a sad situation and the more they find out about the shooter it appears he had planned in advance to cause major casualties when a gathering of any sort happened. The sheeple have been trained to bury their collective heads and kiss their buts goodbye. I also remember the UT shooting and feel finding people to react the same today would be very hard. Dos is right about running and hide, but when all else fails, charging the enemy may disorient him enough to get the upper hand, hopefully we will never have to experience something like Dallas.

  9. Panhandle Rancher says:

    One of my brethren, ended a message with sobering thought, “stay vigilant… we are on the edge of a place we have never seen in our lifetime.”
    PR

  10. Panhandle Rancher says:

    Each tactical situation is different and optimally requires an unique response for best mitigation. I don’t want anyone to conclude I’m a bloodthirsty fool loaded for bear tooling around the busy cities looking for trouble. I’m not. In fact I avoid both (trouble and busy cities) whenever possible. This strategy has served me well for at least a decade. I’m no longer associated with law enforcement and may even be quite stupid in my dotage. However I also may have unique counter sniper skills and/or equipment and who’s to say both used at a distance by me or first responders, may suddenly resolve horrible and persistant danger. I suspect many of the injured responders were wearing Level III+ soft armor. Who’s to say I might just get the eye of a first responder and offer up a set of plates or other unique gear? Each situation stands on its own merit.

    Friendly fire is always a concern. In the big cities most responders realize even though their system may specify a certain agency response protocol and kit, in reality there may be many outside agency responders dressed in everything from gym clothes to 5.11s and plate carrier. FBI/USMS/DEA/SO/BATF/USCS/USBP/transit authority/port authority and more, all may respond and with the first three especially, offer helpful advice (hopefully). John Keegan OBE, DLit (a masterful and insightful author whose many literary works I recommend) wrote much about the fog of battle. The incident commander is certainly so enveloped and wants all sort of intelligence yesterday.

    Then, who’s to say, I might, like MacAuthor said of old soldiers in his final address to West Point, just fade away.

    PR

  11. Badger359 says:

    I agree with PH hold hardily l am outfitted similarly that’s all i am going to say on counter response. I am hoping that Obama doesn’t use this individual to go after or create a veterans data base to redact there 2nd amendment rights just because.
    I am preparing my preps with the idea that Obama and Hillary will go after us in a big way.

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