What would you do... Active shooter scenario...

[Wilson380AR]

With all the active shooter situations taking place I shave been doing some thinking. Obviously the safety of my family is top priority. If in a mall or other heavily populated area and something went down we would be hiding or hitting the nearest exit.

If something took place that was extremely close by, where I had eye contact with the perp, I would have to defend myself.

What has been bothering me though is others possibly carrying or even off duty LEO sending lead my direction thinking I am the perp.

I know every situation is different and one would have to be aware of his surroundings at all times. I constantly take note of my exits and the odd acting people around me. I have been a fire investigator for 17 years and have micro expressions and body language training along with IED identification and post blast investigation. But that has nothing to do with active shooter situations.

Any thoughts?

 

[StunnedMonkey]

I'd consider it my responsibility to protect myself and my family (or companions), not the general public. Which means I'd not go out of my way to put myself into harm's way to play the role of hero. If a crazed nut was bearing down on me I'd do what I had to do. But if I was in a safe spot out of immediate danger, I'd stay there.

 

[Double T]

Anyone can play keyboard commando, but I know for a fact that I would find my family and anyone nearby an out and provide a covered exit, with emergency response on the phone via either me or my wife (or other family member).

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Yep. I'm neither equipped or trained to "charge into battle". I'm gathering my family and we're putting distance between us and the action. If I have to, I'll defend myself.

 

[churchmouse]

How we would respond depends on what is going on at that time. Gather and leave/stand and defend/go on offensive as a last resort.
Again....situation dependent.

 

[Lectric102002]

Yep. I'm neither equipped or trained to "charge into battle". I'm gathering my family and we're putting distance between us and the action. If I have to, I'll defend myself.

Ditto. I'm not engaging the threat until it becomes one to me or mine.

 

[jsharmon7]

Every situation is different, so it's hard to say exactly what I would do. Am I alone? Am I with family? How long has the shooter been active? Are uniformed LEO on-scene or immediately arriving? Even as an off-duty LEO I have to consider whether I'll be helping the situation or complicating it. Can I take the shooter immediately to prevent more victims or am I going to be one more guy in plainclothes with a gun for uniformed LEO to sort out?

 

[Wilson380AR]

All thinking alike. I agree with all ^.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

All thinking alike. I agree with all ^.

I've heard it said: if everyone's thinking alike, nobody's thinking.

 

[freekforge]

Needless to say I have never been in a situation like this so I don't know how I would react but I do know I would be forever disgusted with with my self if I ran away without trying to help/protect others. I have ran towards danger before but there wasn't a crazy guy shootin people.

 

[Lectric102002]

I've heard it said: if everyone's thinking alike, nobody's thinking.

Herd mentality.

 

[MisterChester]

I would try to escape the situation or if I can't do that then I'll take cover. If I know for sure the perp is actively seeking me, I would have no choice but to draw and fire if I had a clear shot.

 

[stephen87]

Take cover or get out. No offense, but I'm not there to protect anyone but myself and my family/friends. If I decide to take action and LE shows up, then not only do I have to contend with a shooter but I also have to try to protect myself from responding LEOs. The last thing I want to do is draw attention to myself from ANYONE with a gun.

 

[Indy 1911]

Totally situational. If I was not hindered by having a loved one with, I am not sure that I could watch someone just execute people and do nothing at all. At least I hope I couldn't. Obviously I would prefer not to be involved with an active shooter.

 

[irishanimal917]

Everyone's response seems to be spot on, it is all dependent on the situation at hand. I think your thoughts on this matter are correct as well. The safety of your family will always be top priority as well as those directly near you. If in a mall or other heavily populated area finding a safe escape route and exit is definitely the best choice.

There is NO question if you & yours were in the direct line of fire you should defend your position from the safety of cover. At best laying down cover fire allowing your loved ones to escape with you hopefully following closely behind.

I for one would think that an off duty LEO would be able to differentiate between the average citizen trying to defend and the perp trying to annihilate people. In such case that an off/on duty LEO did show up, it wouldn't be too hard to identify yourself from cover and relinquish your weapon or surrender to them leaving only the initial threat.

Having been a fire investigator for 17 years and having been trained to read both micro expressions and body language you should know LEO has the same background and 'should' be able to identify you as a responding citizen to an armed maniac.

There's always the option to do nothing in any given situation but it is you that have to deal with the choices you make both short and long term. If you are not trained to deal with an immediate threat then you know what the outcome may result in as well as the dramatic effects it may make on your family. Easy option, run away.

Then there's my personal favorite, 1 shot = 1 kill...

Best of luck while you ponder what decision you would make beforehand & I pray that you would never have to be in this situation to begin with.

 

[NyleRN]

I'd consider it my responsibility to protect myself and my family (or companions), not the general public. Which means I'd not go out of my way to put myself into harm's way to play the role of hero. If a crazed nut was bearing down on me I'd do what I had to do. But if I was in a safe spot out of immediate danger, I'd stay there.

I'm with this guy. I think this needs to be the mind set of all who carry. No need to be the hero. If there's a way out without me having to draw/fire then that's exactly what I'm doing, as long as I'm not getting flyers in my direction. Would I feel bad for those being shot at? Of course, but they have the same privilege as I do getting a carry permit and exercising that right, just as long as they haven't chosen to commit a felony in the past.

 

[KJW]

If you're in a mall and "constantly take note of…the odd acting people around" I don't see how you'd accomplish anything else!
We just had a presentation on active shooter where I work. The basic principle was Run- Hide- Fight. If you're far enough removed you run. Caught not far enough away and yet not so close you hide. If fate places you as one of the handful nearest the shooter you fight anyway you can. (Of course we can't have our guns at work, but that's for another time.) The presenter said that in active shooter scenarios someone is shot on average every 12 seconds, almost all shooters are cowards and shoot themselves at the first sign of strong resistance, and most are over before LEO arrives. All of those facts should mitigate your reluctance to engage the threat.
For those who say they would only protect their own family, I would ask this question. If your son or daughter were killed in a shooting, how would you feel if you knew there was a legally armed good guy right there who did not engage the bad guy?

 

[stephen87]

KJW, I see what you're saying with the question. The real question is, how close is the armed good guy to my child? Obviously, if my child is killed and the guy is right there, then I would question why they didn't do anything. If they're on the other side of the mall, there's no way I could ask them to get involved. If I'm close enough that people around me are getting shot, I'm not protecting them when I draw my weapon. I'm protecting myself and they just happen to be close enough to benefit from my response. Obviously, If I'm drawing, I'm going to be telling others to get to cover or get out. However, I'm not deploying my weapon and hunting someone down, and if people around me are getting shot, I'm not gonna try to run away, it'll be fight time.

 

[scott delaney]

find my family, find cover, retreat to a safe place while being aware of the shooters location. have all family members looking for more shooter all while protecting my 6. once safely away from danger take cover and direct the responding police to shooters location.

 

[Sylvain]

Im surprised nobody is saying he would just draw his CCW badge to ID himself as the good guy for when the LEOs (or other armed citizens) show up.