I did two segments with Brian Copeland on his San Francisco radio show, including taking questions from callers, regarding the Las Vegas shooting and what you can do in active shooter incidents on Oct. 2, 2017. I appreciate Brian contacting me and having me on his show again. Here is the interview:
Check out and listen to the Brian Copeland Show.
Scott Sloan Las Vegas Shooting Interview with Alain Burrese on October 2, 2017. Scott, out of Cincinnati, OH, and Alain discuss the shooting and things people can do.
My thanks to Scott and 700WLW for having me on as a guest.
Check out and listen to the Scott Sloan Show.
Angela McQueen, a teacher, took down a gunman inside Mattoon High School, an Illinois high school, after he opened fire in the school’s cafeteria on Wednesday, September 20, 2017, at about 11:30 a.m. Police say Angela McQueen’s quick response saved lives. A 16-year-old student was shot and later released from the hospital, and the suspect, who the police said was a student, is in custody. The shooter, whose identity was being withheld since he is a minor, acted alone.
According to a CBS This Morning report, investigators are working through about 200 interviews to figure out the gunman’s motive and how he obtained his weapon, but police are already pointing to the incident as an example of the value of preparing teachers to respond to active shooters.
According to witnesses, veteran math and P.E. teacher Angela McQueen grabbed the shooter’s arm and subdued him after he opened fire in Mattoon High School’s cafeteria.
CBS also reported: McQueen and hundreds of students were in the school cafeteria Wednesday when the student began firing.
One boy was struck in the hand and chest. He’s now in good condition and his mother posted on Facebook that her family was, “very blessed it’s not worse.” She described McQueen lunging for the shooter’s arm, forcing it upward.
“He fired 5-6 more rounds into the ceiling as she took him down,” she wrote.
“When she saw the situation and, you know, ‘Okay, this kid’s going to kill somebody if I don’t do something,’ she just took action,'” said Angela’s mother, Barbara McQueen.
This is just one more example illustrating that people don’t have to be victims! Ordinary citizens, unarmed, have and will continue to stop these violent acts. No, facing a gunman unarmed is not an ideal situation, but nothing about an active shooter is ideal. It’s scary. Terrifying. And something I wish would never happen again. But you can do something to prepare. It’s reported that Mattoon Hish School employees had gone through some active shooter response training. Angela McQueen did what she learned and stopped the shooter. Another hero from the education system.
Book Training For Your Business, School, or Organization Today!
Sam Strahan & Joe Bowen were heroes of the Spokane shooting at Freeman High School, just south of Spokane Valley, WA. Sam Strahan was a student who approached the shooter to try and stop him, but sadly, was killed while trying to talk the shooter down. Joe Bowen was the custodian who tackled the shooter and restrained him until law enforcement arrived. Three other students were shot and taken to the hospital.
This one his closer to home as I frequently visit Spokane, WA. We already had this trip planned before the shooting, so I decided to take a few minutes out of our trip to stop and make this tribute video to both of these heroes.
Also see the live video I did on the day of the shooting: Active Shooter in Spokane, WA
Today there was an Active Shooter in Spokane, WA. Sadly, one student was killed and three others injured before one of the staff tackled the shooter and restrained him until police arrived. Here is a video I filmed live on Facebook discussing the shooting and a couple points that reinforce the things I am teaching in the Survive a Shooting course, and that I wrote about in the soon to be published Survive a Shooting book.
As I state in the video, the student who tried to stop the active shooter in Spokane, WA, should be considered a hero for trying to do something, and trying to help his fellow students. Sadly, he used the wrong tool. Crisis communications is a valuable skill, and the ability to defuse a situation and talk down a person who may commit violence is a valuable tool when facing a situation where it will work. Unfortunately, when a person is already shooting at people, killing them or trying to kill them, the time for talking is past and the only tool to stop the violence is counter violence. That’s why I recommended Tim Larkin’s book. He discusses this and explains the concepts very well.
Also, as I state in the video, this active shooter in Spokane, WA, shows that ordinary people can stop these active shooter events. People have done it before, and just as the staff member did today, people will stop these in the future too. That is why I teach what I teach. I don’t want people being helpless victims waiting for someone to save them. I want people to know what they can do to increase the chance of surviving.
Thoughts and prayers go out to all those in Spokane, WA. Especially to the family of the student who was killed.
Also see my tribute video: Sam Strahan & Joe Bowen: Heroes of the Spokane Shooting
Know your exits! This is a valuable thing to know during an emergency. Too often, most people try to exit out the entrance they came in during emergencies, and this often prooves fatal. Airline disasters and club fires both illustrate this point. Knowing nearest and alternate exits has saved people’s lives.
Many people teach to be aware. It’s true, situational awareness is very important for your safety. It is one of the most important things for your safey. But what should you be aware of? There are a number of things you should notice, and one key thing is to know the escape routes and the ways out of wherever you are. Know your exits!
Here is a video I recorded live on Facebook regarding this topic.
Make it a game. Get your kids involved too. Teach them to always know the way out of wherever you are. Here is a short video I filmed in a mall discussing the importance of knowing exits and how many people won’t think of the exits going out the back of stores because we don’t normally use those exits. In an emergency, you can use them, and that just might save your life.
I hope these videos get across the importance of knowing how to get out of anyplace you are. You don’t have to dwell on it, just be aware of the ways out in case you need to exit quickly to save your life or that of others. Like I said above, you can make a game of it to help get used to recognizing the ways out. Make it fun for your kids and they will be learning a life saving skill without even knowing it.
Like I always say, I sincerely hope you never need to know where the emergency exits and alternate ways out are. But if you do, I sure hope you have been aware. I want you to be a survivor.
What To Do If You Are In a Wheelchair? I was asked this on Facebook, and so I did a live video to address this issue. Just because you are in a wheelchair, or are dealing with another challenge, does not mean you have to be a helpless victim. We have had people in wheelchairs, both men and women, go through the 8 hour Active Shooter Response class, including the scenarios. I’ve had people with other physical challenges attend my classes. It doesn’t matter. You can learn things and do thing to keep yourself safe and be a survivor.
Remember, if you are not as good at one of the three responses, Escaping, Denying Access, or Attacking Back, work to improve that area the best you can, but also make the other two stronger. If a wheelchair and your environment makes the escape option unrealistic, work to make your deny and attack back options stronger. Sometimes this takes some thinking and planning, and maybe even a little creativity depending on your situation. But everyone can learn and do something to increase their survivability.
As I mention in the video, we had a student come through the course with a large motorized wheelchair and he determined that it would help him barricade and deny shooters from his and his student’s location. He didn’t let it be an obstacle. he figured out how to make it a strength. We had a woman who had very little mobility and used a motorized wheelchair, but she partook in all parts of the course with her co-workers and designed plans of what they would do if the unthinkable ever happened.
Don’t ever feel that you must be a victim. Never accept that. You can and will be a survivor!
Calling 911 during an active shooter event is not as easy as many believe. We see people struggling with providing the basic information time and time again during scenario training. It is an important thing to be able to do. This video, recorded live on Facebook, provides information that you need to know when calling 911to get law enforcement officers responding. The information you provide can increase their speed in stopping the shooting which will save lives.
The responding law enforcement officer’s primary duty is to stop the threat. Any information you can provide when calling 911 to help with their mission will be helpful. Keep the information you provide to what you know. If you don’t know something, don’t speculate or guess. Good information is accurate information. Things that will be helpful:
Practice calling 911 so you can do it quickly and accurately if you have to.
KIMS Game, or Kim’s game, is an old game or exercise that I first learned while attending the 2nd Infantry Division Scout Sniper School. (On my back, feet 6 inches off the ground, learning the Brady Bunch theme song.) I guess I should have been a Boy Scout, because Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts learn this too. (Wouldn’t have helped in sniper school, as everyone in the class had to sing the Brady Bunch theme song together.) The game helps develop your capacity to observe and remember details. In the military it is often said KIM is for Keep In Memory, but the origin goes back to Rudyard Kipling’s 1901 novel Kim, where the young boy learns the game during his training to be a spy.
I encourage you to try the KIMS game and see how you do. You don’t have to learn the Brady Bunch theme song while doing flutter kicks, but as you improve, make the game harder and take some of the suggestions from the video to go out into the real world and practice so your observation skills improve.
Go to the mall and practice observing different things. You don’t have to do all the categories at the same time, but one time think of cover vs. concealment. Another time think of weapons. Another time exits, and so on. Then, when you get better you can do more than one, and get where you are quizzing yourself on everything.
Teach your kids. Make it fun. Enjoy playing it and you’ll be learning a valuable skill as you have a good time. Remember, I want you to enjoy life safely. So enjoy playing this game and learn as you do.
Here is the clip from the 1950 movie based on the Rudyard Kipling novel.
Run Zig Zag or Not from an Active Shooter was recorded live on Facebook. In the video I talk about why I believe you should just run as fast as you can away from the shooter and not worry about zig zaging.
Here’s the video:
This is Greg’s website that I mention in the video: Active Response Training