No one expects to be at the scene of a Pulse Night Club incident, but unfortunately these “active shooter” incidents seem to be happening more frequently.
On March 14, the Hernando County Sheriff’s office held a seminar for citizens detailing what to do if you find yourself in the midst of any type of mass assault. These don’t always involve firearms. It could be a bomb, a box truck or even a fire. They can occur in a mall, workplace, or an open public area.
Deputies Matt Spooner and Paul Smith presented the information through videos, lecture and recordings of actual 911 calls. They discussed common sense measures that ordinary people can take if they should find themselves in this type of situation –not to scare people but to show how anyone can be proactive and keep from getting hurt.
The audience was made up mostly of middle aged people and retirees. There was almost an equal number of women as men. They ranged from a Catholic priest to a former gun shop owner, military veterans, those in the education field and “ordinary citizens.”
Father Patrick Rebel, Pastor of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church stated, “My business manager prompted me to come. I tend to be very trusting of people and maybe don’t take all the precautions I should when I’m in the church office, but you have to be prepared. An incident like this can happen anywhere.”
Teresa Sepe and Todd Sepe were there because as Mr. Sepe explained, “Just because you live in Spring Hill doesn’t mean you’re exempt from something like this happening.”
Mrs. Sepe added, “We heard about the class and came because it’s good to be prepared.”
There are three main things to remember, when most people’s first reaction is to panic. An easy way to remember this is ADD.
AVOID
First, Avoid the attacker. Be aware of your surroundings. If you see or hear something that looks suspicious, take action. Gunfire in a building has a distinctive sound, especially if it’s repetitive. Try to get away from the scene. Know where all the exits are – not just the door you came in or the nearest exit. Consider the use of cover and concealment. If you run, don’t run in a straight line. Run like a rabbit, zig-zagging. Seek concealment at the same time, looking over your shoulder at the shooter to see where he is.
DENY
Secondly, Deny the attacker access to your location by either locking or barricading the door to a room you’re in. Once that is done, make sure that everyone stays quiet, the lights are off and phones are silenced so it looks like no one is in the room. Obviously, you would call 911 as soon as possible and give the operator as much accurate information as you can. If you don’t know the answer to her questions, don’t guess. By the way, this is not a good time to phone your friends and tell them what is going on or take pictures to capture the experience for Facebook.
DEFEND
Third, Defend yourself in any way you can. This does not necessarily mean that you need to be “packing a gun.” Anything can serve as a weapon.
“Fight dirty and get angry. You should be angry. That person is trying to harm you,” Spooner advised.
Deputy Smith stated, “If you’re in a school situation, you can throw anything at the attacker – a chair, a book, anything.”
In this way you catch the attacker off guard and maybe stop the incident before it becomes a tragedy.
Once law enforcement has arrived, listen and obey their commands immediately. They will tell you to raise your hands. Don’t make sudden movements. Make sure you don’t have a cell phone in your hands because it can resemble a gun. If you happen to be carrying a gun or other weapon, let them know.
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“There are three stages to ‘disaster’ response,” Spooner continued. “Denial, Deliberation and Decisive Moment.”
The first reaction is denial. We don’t believe that this is really happening. Gunshots might be perceived as fireworks or thunder. Your brain is telling you at first that this is “normal.” In this case, listen to your “gut.” If something seems wrong, go with that feeling.
There is also something called “Social Proof.” Most people don’t want to act differently from the rest of the people in a group. We look to see what other people are doing, follow their lead and conform to their behavior. We don’t want to take action because we don’t want to be different from everyone else. However, once someone does take action, the rest of the group will usually follow that “leader.” A good example is the incident on Flight 93 during the 9/11 tragedy when one man rallied the whole plane to take down the hijackers.
Deputy Smith stated, “If you have the mindset that you’re going to do something about this situation and act on it, then most people will go along with you.”
One person can make a difference.
“The shorter this denial phase is, the better your chances of survival in a crisis,” Spooner commented.
You have to think ahead of time about what you would do if a crisis situation occurred.
“You have to run scenarios through your brain, think about the worst case scenarios and how you would respond to them. Think tactically,” stated Spooner.
The Deliberation phase occurs when you figure out something is wrong and you think about what you need to do. You have to think rationally and make informed decisions. You decide whether Fight or Flight is the best course of action. What you don’t want to do is Freeze. The best way to overcome the emotion of fear that will grip you and maybe paralyze you is slow, steady breathing.
Then, a good emotion – one that can make you act decisively is anger. This will make you focus and act.
“You have every right to be angry. You’re in a life or death situation,” Spooner advised.
He reiterated, “We’re not trying to put you in fear; we’re trying to educate you.”
The next phase is the Decisive Moment.
An interesting point that Deputy Smith brought up is that you don’t want to “play dead.” This might seem like a good idea, but you could still become a victim.
Someone in the audience brought up the question of whether a bystander in an “active shooter” incident should use a gun to “neutralize” the shooter. Deputy Smith emphasized that if you decide to do that, be sure you don’t have the gun in your hand when law enforcement get there. The police don’t always have all the facts when they arrive on the scene and may mistake you for the perpetrator. There’s also the possibility that you could shoot an innocent person if you aren’t well trained.
Another good piece of advice is to learn basic First Aid. Medical personnel will not enter an “active shooter” situation until the area is safe. Learn how to apply a tourniquet when a victim has massive bleeding and carry it with you. You might just save a life.
Once you have survived an incident like this there will be Post Traumatic Stress. Be prepared for this and seek help.
In conclusion, Deputy Spooner pointed out an interesting fact about mass murderers. They want attention and notoriety. That may be their only motive for perpetrating this horrific crime. Unfortunately, the media and public sometimes feed on this sick motive.
Deputy Spooner stated, “We don’t want to give the shooter any recognition. We want to remember the victims and their families.”
For more information on future “active shooter” classes log on to the sheriff’s website www.hernandosheriff.org or “Like” their Facebook page.
You can also view a video showing a simulated shooting situation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0It68YxLQQ