What to do if there is an active shooter

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Two weeks ago the City of West Hollywood held an Active Shooter Workshop. The event was hosted by Erik Franco, the CEO of High-Speed Tac Med and a trained Search and Rescue Technician/Emergency Medical Technician who has years of experience as a Department of Homeland Security and Law Enforcement Instructor..

The event was held on a Saturday morning, in the rain, and was well attended by members of the Public, the Public Safety Commissioners as well as Council member Lauren Meister and Mayor Pro Tem John Erickson.

An ‘active shooter’ is an individual who is engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area: in most cases, active shooters use firearm(s) and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims. These victims are usually selected at random and the situation is evolves quickly and is unpredictable.

Below is a paraphrase of the quick reference guide to an Active Shooter Event. This training must continue to be employed in West Hollywood by the business owners, residents, and with advanced training within our community.

You have 3 choices as an active shooter event develops:

  1. RUN.
  2. HIDE.
  3. FIGHT.

You must prepare your mindset with these choices.

Run: If you see that escape route take it. Leave your belongings behind. Evacuate whether or not other agree to follow. Help others escape if possible. Don’t attempt to move the wounded. Prevent others from entering the area where an active shooter may be. Keep your hands visible. Call 911 when you are safe.

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HIDE: Hide in an area out of the shooter’s view. Lock door or block entry to your hiding place. SILENCE your cell phone and remain quiet. (put on vibrate)

FIGHT: If you’re on an airplane, in a confined space, there are those that spring into action. Fight as a last resort and only if your life is in imminent danger. Attempt to incapacitate the shooter. Act with as much physical aggression as possible. Improvise weapons. Commit to your actions, your life depends on it. Basically, if your life is in jeopardy and you choose to fight, then you need to go ape shit and commit to these actions.

The first officers to arrive on the scene will not stop to help injured. You should expect rescue teams to follow those first officers who are there to secure the area.

If you are in a crowded or confined area know your exits.

If you are in a business and hear of the active shooter in area the business should lock its doors.

If you are behind a door or wall seek concrete walls, which stop bullets. Bullets can go through sheetrock or wood doors.

Remain calm.

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[…] PD is assisting the Sheriff’s Department. This story is developing. The Sheriff Dept held active shooter workshop last […]

Madness
Madness
1 year ago

Madness!

Stevie
Stevie
1 year ago

Baaaa Baaaa, the sheep will follow the woke and demand more gun control and take away the rights of law abiding citizens. Gun control is a false sense of security just like a worthless court order restraining order is.

Mick Remington
Mick Remington
1 year ago

shoot back. duh.

Stephen
Stephen
1 year ago

If gun nut NRApublican politicians are going to continue forcing all us Americans to live at the OK Corral, we might as well start dressing like the 1870s too.

This is f–king preposterous.

We need new gun safety laws ASAP!

Matthew Flanagan
Matthew Flanagan
1 year ago

The real answer is to reach for my own concealed carry and fire back.

Dana
Dana
1 year ago

Don’t kid yourself. Your little pistol will be useless against an ArmaLite-15. You aren’t Rambo.

Last edited 1 year ago by Dana
Cy Husain
1 year ago
Reply to  Dana

NO, a good handgun has a tactical advantage in close quarters combat over an assault rifle being more maneuverable in tight spaces with the barrel able to sweep over a larger area much quicker. The smaller size of a pistol gives it better weapon retention it’s less prone to the barrel being grabbed by surprise and taken away like the assault rifle was in the Colorado LGBTQ night club shooting.