If you are not directly threatened by the gunman, leave. Just leave the area! Do not try to see what is going on, take pictures or otherwise put yourself or others in harm's way. Leave!! This should be your first reaction if you can. Let someone else have the story to tell about how cool or scary the situation was at the next party. You just take your butt home and be safe!!
Should you not be able to leave and you are in danger from the gunman seek "COVER"! What is cover? Cover is anything which will stop a bullet. What will stop a bullet? Not what you see on TV or in the movies!! Think more along the lines of what would stop a garbage truck from running you over. Better yet, think what you would want between your loved ones and a runaway truck!
Glass, car doors, plants, internal walls, filing cabinets, pressboard desk, computer screens and almost everything you see stop bullets on TV DOES NOT STOP BULLETS in real life. Lightly constructed buildings do not stop bullets. Bullets will go through all of these things.
Cement, bricks, thick steel, boulders, large thick trees and other dense objects stop or deflect bullets. When soldiers build sandbag walls they are at least three sandbags deep, this is about 2 -3 feet wide. Try to find something thick enough to stop a truck.
The more items between you and the gunman the better. If the gunman has to fire through a door, through a filing cabinet and a desk before you can be hit this increases your chances of survival. In this case some "cover" is better than none.
Concealment is your next option. Anything which keeps the gunman from seeing you is concealment. Remember, concealment is not cover!! Just because the gunman can not see you does not mean you can not be shot!! Bullets go through most things people will try to hide behind. Ideally you want to find a position of cover and concealment. Cover comes first!!!
If you barricade yourself somewhere let someone know you are there. Call 911, wave out a window or maybe hang something out the window. Letting the authorities know where you are will help them to help you. Remember if you barricade a door bullets can still come through the door!
Learn first aid. I can not stress this enough! Just because someone is wounded does not automatically mean they are dead. So many wounded people live after receiving basic first aid prior to the EMTs or other first responders arriving.
When you encounter law enforcement DO EXACTLY WHAT THEY SAY! Remember they are scared also and have no idea what is going on. If they think you are a threat they will shoot you. Do not run at them unless they tell you to, raise your hands in the air and follow their commands. Should you been in a room where law enforcement has to make entry. Lay on the floor with your hands on your head. Again, do not present a threat to them! Anyone standing up is considered a threat!
In the chaos of an "active shooter" (what Law Enforcement calls these situations) you have to be responsible for you. You have to do everything you can to protect yourself until Law Enforcement can gain control of the situation. When the SWAT teams arrive they will be hunting. Almost all agencies are incorporating tactics where the patrol officers go on the hunt as soon as they arrive. What are they hunting? The gunman. Do everything you can to not be mistaken for the gunman or to be in the way of the hunters!
I hope none of us are ever in this position but I fear more and more of us will be in the future. Should you be in this situation;
LEAVE!
Find COVER!
Find CONCEALMENT!
Find a position of both COVER and Concealment!
Learn First Aid.
Do Not be a Threat to Law Enforcement!
Follow directions from Law Enforcement!
For the Sheepdogs out there amongst us. Have your tools with you and remain ever vigilant!!!
As always;
Stay Safe!
