As per a recent survey, cases of mass killing have nearly quadrupled in the US over the past 3 and a half years alone.
Active Shooter events today occur more frequently than ever before, which is something that can send shivers down anyone’s spine. The sudden nature of these attacks usually does not give victims the time to think or respond, and they often end up losing their lives. Almost all of such active shooter incidents are over in less than 8 minutes, thereby giving very little time for authorities to react or do anything at all.
The fact that there is no specific pattern for active shooting incidents makes things all the worse. As many as 70% of shootings take place at busy workplaces so as to inflict maximum casualties. While the U.S. has 5% of the world’s population, it has 31% of mass shooting incidents under its name since 1966, leading up to 90 mass killings taking place within its shores. Besides being a complete stranger who chose your premises as an ideal target, an active killer can also be your stressed-out subordinate, an ex-employee or even a former customer who felt left in the middle of the road sometime back.
Gun control laws have also been under consideration for a while now, though a tough stance against the same is yet to be taken. There is a very little probability that you will ever get into a hostage or mass shooting situation. But given the alarming rising rate of shooting incidents not only in the U.S. but also worldwide, you need to prep yourself for tackling any such situation to the best of your ability.
Profiling an Active Shooter
An active shooter is a radicalized or mentally unstable individual, who is actively engaged in carrying out killing or attempts for killing people in a confined area with significant population. They mostly use firearms to carry out their attack, and there is no general pattern to determine their attack or their choice of selecting their victims. Their attack also lasts for around 8-10 minutes at maximum, which is not really easy to contain by some individual, especially if none of the security forces are around the corner.
RUN, HIDE OR FIGHT
As standard practices for those who end up falling into such situations all of a sudden, the three-point concept states:
- Run: Run if you can through the safest and most feasible exit point as fast as you can. Try to run without any pattern, which will make shooting at you much more difficult.
- Hide: If running is not an option for you, you can try to hide from the attacker’s view for as long as you can. Try to lock yourself up in some adjoining room too, using barricades for preventing attackers to break open the door for reaching you.
- Fight: If you are in close proximity to the shooter and do not have time or opportunity to run or hide, you must try the best defense tactic, attack the shooter head-on! This may leave him startled, and may well save you and others from him. Attack with anything you find worthy, table lamps, chairs, side stands, or anything you find good enough to incapacitate him.
Why Undergo Self-Defense Training?
Because it is really necessary today. Mass shooting can happen anywhere around you, and you certainly shouldn’t wait for it to unfold before you take any step to contain it or get away from the scene. Joining such training can tell you about your possible options in terms of all the risks, challenges. Besides, you can also save the lives of those around you while being stuck in such situations.
To get expert insights on surviving a mass shooting in your workplace, you can join this live webinar by defense and safety expert, Bo Mitchell. He will share his vast experience with you and give advice on what all you can do to save yourself in a mass shooting scenario, either at work or any other public place. He will also be taking a live Q&A session towards the end of the webinar to resolve any queries you may have regarding the same. A training of this kind from an expert is the need of the hour given the dangerous and increasing threats of active shooters, mass shooting and killings in the world.
