So,
unless you have been living under a rock you have no doubt heard about the
Aurora, Colorado shooting. A nut job by the name of James Holmes entered a dark
theater with an AR-15, a tactical shotgun, and a pair of Glock pistols. Let me
lead off by saying that this is terrible and that I hope that Holmes burns in
hell for eternity for his actions. Now that I have gotten the rant out of my
system, we need to see what we can learn from this event to keep ourselves safe
if we are ever in a similar situation. I believe that learning from these
situations is a way to honor the victim of the event. If we can learn from
their loss and help keep ourselves same then they have not died for nothing.
Let’s
start by looking at the setting of the shooting. Holmes chose a movie theater
30 minutes into a movie. This was not random or accidental. If he was looking
for a way to do maximum damage he picked the right place. Holmes chose a dark
room full of people who were in close proximity to one another, who were focused
on a movie, and had limited entrances/exits. To further muddy the water he
tossed in a couple of smoke grenades to create further distraction. So far,
given the situation, the people in the theater are screwed. There wasn’t a whole
lot the majority of the crowd could do other than hope that he missed them.
Now, let’s look at what we could do to better our odds
First
of all I always assume that something like this is going to happen when I am in
a crowded area. It isn’t pleasant but if you assume the worst possible outcome
of any given situation then it will never take you by surprise. We live in a
world of individuals who are one missed medication from going nuts and killing
people. We also live in a world of terrorists who want to do us harm. Terrorist
always shoot for large public events with lots of people. It’s a shock and awe
thing, much like 9-11. So the number one way we prepare for things like this is
with mental preparation. When you’re in an area are you scanning for the
nearest exit? Are you scanning the room looking for the person who looks
nervous, out of place, and anxious? The Secret Service does this very exercise
when the president has speaking rallies. If everyone is cheering and happy but
there is one person in the crowd who appears to be very serious and focused
directly on the president you can bet they are going to be moving in for a
better look-see. So back to our dark theater, if you assumed that someone was
going to come into the theater while you were there and start shooting wouldn’t
you want to be near an exit? Now in the case of Holmes he came in through an
exit but this is a calculated risk. Personally, I would rather be near the exit
for two reasons. One, if he comes in through the exit that I’m not seated near
then I’m out the nearest door and gone; two, if he comes in and I’m sitting
nearest to him as he walks in, assuming I’m paying attention, I at least have a
chance to go hand-to-hand with the guy before he gets a shot off. Going up
against an active shooter may sound crazy but if you are paying attention you
may be able to put hands on the weapon while giving others time to react
and help you subdue the shooter. This sounds scary but if you’re sitting by the
door when a shooter enters a room and you don’t react, more than likely, you’ll
be carried out in a body bag. There are two things you never, ever want to do
here. The first is to sit in a position where the exit is to your rear, you’ll
never see the threat until it’s too late, and the second is to sit in the
middle of a row with people on all sides of you. Depending how things go down
you may get trampled to death before you get shot.
While
these actions may not keep you 100% safe, they will give you better odds of
surviving an active shooter scenario. Remember, if you are going to survive you
have to be ready to stand on your own two feet to do so.
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