active shooter

Spotting cover

Cover and concealment are important to know when you are trying to escape an active shooter, or when trying to deny the killer access to you. Both can be valuable, but cover is the most important.

Cover is something that will stop bullets. It may or may not hide you. Concealment will hide you, but bullets can pass through. This is why cover is most important, we want something that will stop bullets. Before I discuss spotting cover, I do want to point out that concealment has its place in the overall survival plan, and it has saved lives.

Concealment

I’ve discussed elsewhere why I don’t like the word “hide” in the Run Hide Fight model. But the fact is, sight and sound attract killers in these incidents, and if you hide behind concealment, and the killer does not see or hear you, there is a good chance he won’t shoot and continue on looking for someone he can see or hear. So hiding is one way to deny a killer access to you, because he doesn’t see or hear you, and thus continues on. I still rather you have a more proactive plan than hiding and hoping, but I don’t dismiss hiding as it can be included in your plan if no better alternatives are present. And while concealment has saved lives, you will be better off if you can find cover, and that is what I will address in the rest of this article.

Spotting Cover

Remember the old saying, “Forewarned is forearmed.” Cover is often all around us if we are paying attention. If you are aware, one of the most important lessons I teach in my classes and courses, you can develop an eye for seeing and recognizing cover, and this can save your life in an unexpected attack. Your brain ignites and automatically sets you into action to get behind suitable cover to keep you alive.

Just the routine spotting and acknowledging of appropriate cover when you are out and about can increase the odds of you seeking cover more rapidly in an active shooter event. But you can take this a step further by actually practicing. Taking cover is a basic tool in street survival, so why not practice it just like you practice your other skills? You practice your combatives and weapon skills, and seeking cover should go hand in hand with your weapon, so practice it too. Real shootouts aren’t like the old movies where you walk out into the middle of the street to meet you adversary.

Regardless if you carry a weapon or not, seeking cover should be part of your overall survival plan when bullets are flying. Putting cover between you and the gunman can save your life, and it is one way of denying the killer access to you.

Learn to think cover and recognize what will stop bullets and what won’t. A fire hydrant will stop bullets, but a garbage can, unless filled with something that will stop bullets, probably won’t. Telephone poles and light poles will stop most bullets, and they are everywhere. Inside a building, hollow doors and many walls won’t stop bullets, but brick walls, and solid doors can. Also remember than some things will stop bullets from smaller caliber weapons, but won’t stop larger calibers.

If you are not in an occupation, or living a lifestyle, that will place you in a gunfight, the odds of you being in a shooting are still rare. Even with the increase of active shooter incidents over the last couple of decades, the odds of you being in one are still extremely low. But, in that slim chance you are, knowing the difference between cover and concealment, and knowing which items commonly on the street provide suitable cover against a host of bullets, can help you survive the shooting.

Stay Aware and Enjoy Life Safely!

Active Shooter Response Training is More Than Watching the Run Hide Fight Video

An individual once wrote me asking what I thought of his company’s “active shooter training.” All of the employees were sent a nice letter from HR explaining the importance of active shooter training, so they would be prepared in case of an active shooter or other active threat incident. At the end of the letter was a link to the “Run – Hide – Fight” video on YouTube with instructions to watch the video, as this was important. That’s it. That was their training.

I wrote him back and said I teach anywhere from one hour to eight hours, depending on the group and what they bring me in for. Sometimes it’s a keynote, other times a breakout session, and sometimes a half or full day of training for organizations. I asked him how he thought a five-minute video on YouTube compared. He agreed with me, and thought it was just a way his company was trying to cover their butt and say they cared about people and did something.

The fact is, training people costs money. And it’s not just the fee paid to me, or other trainers. It costs a lot to have employees attend a course, the longer the more it costs. But it’s worth it. It can save lives, and it also can increase moral and provide peace of mind when people are scared. The person who wrote me didn’t have the best impression of that company’s leadership. How would he have felt if they had provided actual training rather than a video link?

I have had so many people comment that they felt better, empowered, after training. They realized they could do something to keep themselves and loved ones safer. Investing in training is investing in people. There are other benefits to training, and other values associated with providing active shooter response training to employees. But I do believe one of the biggest is having employees feel cared about. When you provide training, and a tool such as Reflex Protect, to help keep your employees safe and provide peace of mind when the news is bombarding them with tales of violence, you aren’t just spending money. You are investing in your employees. You are showing them you care about them and their safety. And that is worth a whole lot more than the actual cost of training.

Alain Burrese, Safety Seminar, Billings, MT, Aug 6, 2019

Active Shooter Response with Matt Otstot on KMJNow

KMJ-Logo-300x88

I did a short interview with Matt Otstott of KMJNow:

http://www.kmjnow.com

Shooting at California Festival Kills Three; Suspect is Dead
From “Shooting at California Festival Kills Three; Suspect is Dead”
Associated Press (07/29/19) Mendoza, Martha; Ronayne, Kathleen

A six-year-old boy was killed along with two other people after a mass shooting at the Gilroy, California Garlic Festival on Sunday. Fifteen others were injured. The annual festival in the “Garlic Capital of the World” in Northern California was wrapping up its third and final day when a gunman opened fire with a rifle, according to police. The gunman cut through a fence to avoid security and opened fire before police fatally shot him as terrified people and performers ran for cover. Some witnesses reported a second suspect, Gilroy Police Chief Scott Smithee said, but it was unclear whether that person was armed or simply provided assistance. A manhunt continued late into the night. At this point in the investigation, Smithee said he has “no idea” what the shooter’s motive was. The first reports of gunshots at the festival came in around 5:41 p.m. local time, just as the event was wrapping up, Smithee said. He added that officers already stationed at the festival “engaged the suspect in less than a minute.” More than a dozen ambulances and fire trucks were also dispatched to the scene located about 30 miles southeast of San Jose. Smithee noted that security at the festival’s official entrances is “very tight,” despite a lack of posted security cameras. In addition to a police presence, attendees are subject to bag searches and metal detector wands, he said.

Active Shooter Response with Brett Jensen on 99.3 WBT in Charlotte, NC

This is the interview with Brett Jensen on 99.3 WBT in Charlotte, NC, after the shooting in Florence, SC. (aired live on 10/4/18)  While the Florence shooting was not an active shooter event where the killer was wanting to rack up a high body count of strangers, it was a mass shooting of police officers. Brett had me on his show to discuss what people can do in these events.

The discount code was only for those listening live and is no longer valid.

Cincinnati Shooting – Another Senseless Act of Violence

Cincinnati Shooting: Cincinnati Police Chief Elliot Isaac

Cincinnati shooting, another senseless act of violence… My thoughts go out to all who were affected, but thoughts and prayers are not enough. I was literally in the middle of writing an e-mail to the Superintendent of one of Montana’s school districts in regards to bulk Survive A Shooting book sales and the Reflex Protect training we did the first half of for his district yesterday when I got a phone call. (This district is the first Montana school district to implement Reflex Protect throughout all the schools and buses in their district.) The phone call was from Scott Sloan of the Scott Sloan Show on 700WLW in Cincinnati, OH regarding the shooting this morning in Cincinnati.

While many facts are still unknown, and like I said on the radio, these investigations can often take a lot of time, and sadly like the Las Vegas shooting investigation, not answer all of the questions we have. But this is what I do know, the Cincinnati shooting is another senseless act of violence.

It saddens and sickens me that people think the answer to their problems is to kill people. Especially sickening is to kill innocent people that have absolutely nothing to do with these sick individual’s perceived problems. And I’m not using “sick” in medical terms, although I believe mental illness is a contributing factor to many of these tragic incidents, I’m using “sick” as in, ANYONE who wants to hurt or kill innocent people is sick. I have stronger feelings and words, but will refrain from using them here.

I was talking with a couple of other trainers yesterday after training 70 some teachers in the use of Reflex Protect as a component to their active threat and armed intruder response plan and training. We all agreed that we wished this training wasn’t needed. We wished we knew the solution to stop others from wanting to kill innocent people. We wished my book Survive A Shooting wasn’t needed. We wished Reflex Protect wasn’t needed. We wished people would just stop hurting and killing each other. Sadly, we acknowledged that our wishes were not going to come true. History shows us that people have been preying on others and killing each other as far back as you can go, and it doesn’t look like any change is coming. I don’t understand it. I don’t like it. And as a father I worry about my daughter in this world almost every day.

What I do know, and what I do understand, is we can do things to better prepare ourselves. We can practice safe habits and have a plan for when the unthinkable happens. That’s why I wrote Survive a Shooting. That’s why I teach workplace violence and active shooter response classes. That’s why I teach people how to enjoy life safely. And that’s why I’ve teamed up with Reflex Protect to offer a non-lethal option to people to defend themselves.

We must all take personal responsibility for our own safety. And if we are in leadership positions, we should provide training and tools for those that work for us to keep them safe. This not only increases moral and reduces anxiety, it has been shown that workplace violence and active shooter response training saves organizations money. I’ll be writing and talking about that more too. It is morally and fiscally sound to prepare our employees through training and the implementation of making locations more secure.

The Cincinnati shooting this morning is just one more, and sadly not the last, that illustrates the need of doing something proactive to protect yourself, your loved ones, and those who work with or for you. And again, my thoughts go out to all those affected by today’s shooting, and all those from shootings past.

Capital Gazette Shooting in Annapolis MD

The Capital Gazette Shooting in Annapolis, MD, is another tragic incident where five lives were lost, and countless other affected by this senseless and needless violence. I truly wish I wasn’t writing and teaching about this topic because it wasn’t needed. I’d gladly teach mediation skills, negotiation skills, and effective communication as those are topics I’ve taught and written about since law school. However, because these killing continue, and statistics prove they are more frequent than they use to be, I will do everything I can to help people be better prepared and increase their survivability.

I am NOT blaming anyone at the Capital Gazette for what they did, or what they tweeted or said. They didn’t know different. But I do disagree with things that were tweeted and said. The ONLY person to blame is the sick individual that took a firearm to the newspaper office and committed the Capital Gazette Shooting. I refuse to type his name because I don’t want to give him any acknowledgment at all. He’s sick and I wish they would just put him down for all the terror and heartbreak he’s caused. I feel the same about everyone who preys on innocent victims.

But to help people for future incidents, because, sadly, there will be more, I want to share the comments I disagree with and why.

One statement by a Capital Gazette shooting survivor, “it’s not something anyone can prepare themselves for.”

I agree and disagree with this. He was right in the fact that I don’t think we can fully prepare ourselves for the sudden, unexpected horror of an event like that. However, there ARE things we can do to better prepare ourselves for such an occurrence. And I’m not talking about turning everyone into Rambo so they can take out these sick monsters.

We can learn how to harden targets, and position ourselves in ways to better escape or respond. We can learn to better identify and report risk factors, and risk assessment teams and law enforcement can increase what they are doing regarding potential threats. (This is extremely difficult because of our freedoms and rights in this country, which I DO NOT want to see deteriorated.) We can make places easier to lock down and deny access to where we are at. We can learn how to attack back and stop these killers and the ways and opportunities that give us the best chance of doing so. We can purchase and know how to use life saving devices such as tourniquets and pressure bandages. We can increase our awareness, which will help keep us safe in general, not just from active shooters and other terrorists. We can learn how to interact with law enforcement during these situations to better help them do their job and accomplish their mission. There are MANY things we can do to better prepare ourselves for these kinds of situations. Having some kind of plan for emergencies, including active shooter situations, can help a person respond during crisis.

Another tweet I read that really bothered me was from a man that was hiding under a desk and heard the gunman reloading. Anyone who has read my book or taken a class with me knows that hiding and hoping is not a plan for survival. I am very glad that individual who tweeted that survived. But the fact is, hiding under a desk and hoping does not provide the best chance of survival. Being proactive, taking your safety and survival into your own hands, and escaping, denying, or attacking back are proven to be the best options. Which option will depend on different variables, and that’s why I created the Active Shooter Response Triangle for my book, posters, and classes.

Things that were not a surprise to me regarding the Capital Gazette shooting because they have happened before include: signs before hand of a potential incident, the suspect barricaded the exit doors as part of a pre-planned attack, the suspect stopped to reload his firearm, people thought initial sounds were fireworks. These are all things studied because they repeatedly occur. This knowledge helps us prepare, and hopefully prevent shootings and deaths in the future.

I want everyone reading this to know there are things you can do to help make yourself safer and to increase your survivability in an active shooter or terrorist attack. No, nothing is 100%, and I can’t ensure no one else dies. No one can do that. But I can provide information, that if acted upon, can make a difference and increase your odds if ever faced with such a horrific situation. That’s why I say my book is the most important book you will every read that I hope you never need.

Capital Gazette Shooting Victims

As a final note, I want to say my heartfelt condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family members of those killed yesterday. May the all Rest In Peace.

  • Rob Hiaasen, 59, an editor and columnist
  • Wendi Winters, 65, a local news reporter and community columnist
  • John McNamara, 56, an editor and sports reporter (who worked directly with Messenger, an intern in the sports department).
  • Gerald Fischman, 61, the editorial page editor
  • Rebecca Smith, sales assistant

 

Photo Copyright Patrick Semanski/AP Photo

 

 

 

 

What is the biggest active shooter response misconception?

active shooter response misconception by alain burreseWhat active shooter response misconception is the biggest? There are many, and while I’m not sure if this is the biggest, it is very prevalent in some circles and I’m going to look at it today.

Active Shooter Response Misconception: The ONLY way to stop a bad guy with a gun is by a good guy with a gun.

This is often said by the pro-gun crowd, but it is not accurate. While I will agree that if you have to face an active shooter, it would be better if you were armed with a firearm too, but that is not realistic for all circumstances. Because of laws and different personality types, people are going to face active killers unarmed. However, unarmed people HAVE stopped these sick individuals. There are many instances where ordinary unarmed people have stopped active shooter and terrorist threats.

It’s ridiculous to say if you are not armed with a firearm you must resort to being a helpless victim. It’s not true! You don’t have to be a victim. That’s what the Survive a Shooting book and course are all about. I’ve taught many teachers, medical providers, government office workers and others who are prohibited from carrying a firearm at work. I don’t care if you agree or disagree with these laws. The fact is, they exist and I teach people strategies that work within the parameters they must work with.

I refuse to believe this active shooter response misconception and say unarmed people must be victims. Not when so many unarmed people have successfully stopped these killers. I’m not saying it is easy. Nor am I saying it is ideal. I am saying it is possible. And with the things I teach, it raises the chances people can successfully survive these horrific events.

It is important that people learn to harden targets and look for potential indicators to prevent the event from happening in the first place. That is always best. But if bullets are flying, there are things people can do to increase their chances of survival, and to save lives. People must know how to escape, deny, attack back, and stop the bleeding. Knowledge and training can prepare people so they don’t have to live in fear, but rather can enjoy life safely with a plan if the worst case scenario does happen.

 

Clint Eastwood made a movie about a terrorist active shooter that was stopped by unarmed passengers. Here is an article titled The True Story Behind the Movie The 15:17 to Paris

Active Shooter Lessons from “The 15:17 To Paris”

I went to the new Clint Eastwood produced and directed movie The 15:17 to Paris, and wanted to point out a couple of lessons we can all learn from the movie. Eastwood took a risk by having the three childhood friends turned heroes play themselves in the film. But it’s a risk I’m glad he took. Those heroes-turned-actors are Spencer Stone, a former U.S. Air Force Airman, Alek Skarlatos, a former Oregon National Guardsman, and Anthony Sadler, a senior at California State University at the time of the incident. On August 21, 2015, the trio was riding on a Thalys train headed towards the French capital when a man armed with an assault rifle and pistol opened fire, shooting one passenger. Stone and Skarlatos instinctively decided to charge at the assailant, and Sadler was not far behind. Despite several injuries, including a slashed neck and thumb for Stone, the three friends managed to overpower the gunman with the assistance of a British passenger. The four were hailed as international heroes and received various honors for their valor. The movie was adapted from the three men’s co-authored memoir of the same name.

It is obvious that Stone, Skarlatos, and Sadler are not actors. It is a risk Eastwood took and the film is taking some criticism for it. Personally, I didn’t mind that the acting and dialogue wasn’t as smooth as it would have been with A-list actors playing the three. I thought it was pretty cool that they were the actual heroes playing themselves, and I enjoyed the movie and am glad I went to see it. There are two lessons related to my work in teaching Active Shooter Response that I want to share.

There is a scene in the film when Stone is in a class at a military base when an Active Shooter alert is sounded. The instructor in the class tells people to lock the door and then get under the desks. I wanted to scream in the theater. NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!! Hiding under desks is not a strategy to survive. Little spoiler here. Stone gets up and prepares himself at the door with a pen held in a hammer fist. If the shooter came through the door, he was going to take him out with the pen. YES, YES, YES, YES!!! I still wanted to scream at the instructor and everyone hiding under desks, but having Stone do the right thing eased my blood pressure. (Even though the instructor in the movie criticized him for it.) You lock doors and barricade to keep the shooter out, but you then prepare to ambush him at the door with whatever you have in case the locks and barricade fail. This is what I and others teach, and I was glad that at least one person in that class room figured it out on their own. It is the best strategy in a bad situation. When the instructor who told everyone to get under the desks asked Stone why he did what he did, Airman Stone replied, “I don’t know, ma’am. I just didn’t want my family finding out that I died hiding under a table.”

The other lesson from this movie is that people, even unarmed people, can and have stopped killers. I get tired of so many people saying the only way to stop a killer with a gun is with a gun yourself. These four men, the three Americans and one British passenger, prove that quote wrong. And there have been many others in similar incidents.

As I said earlier in this book, yes, if I had to face an active shooter, I would prefer to have a firearm myself. But I refuse to say that people without a firearm must resign to being victims. I sure won’t, and I don’t want anyone I teach to be a victim either. I teach people to be survivors. If all they have is a ball point pen like Stone in the movie, use it. If there is a fire extinguisher handy, use it. If you are naked with absolutely nothing, use your hands, feet, elbows, knees, teeth, and anything else to attack back and stop the attacker.

I like that this movie shows regular people deciding to act, and their actions saved many lives. Not only did they stop the killer, they kept the wounded man alive until professional medical personnel could take over. That’s a reason stopping bleeding is part of my book and courses. People can and do save lives. This movie was a great example of what people can do, and I applaud the men who acted on that train, and I applaud Clint Eastwood for bringing the story to us in this film.