Surviving an 'Active Shooter' Incident [VIDEO]

Precinct 2 of the Cobb County Police Department, which serves the Smyrna-Vinings area, offers the following advice and tips on how to protect yourself and others during an "active shooter" incident.

The mere utterance of the phrase “active shooter” sends chills down the spine of all good citizens. Fifteen years ago, this phrase didn’t exist in our lexicon. Now, it’s a reality.

We’ve all seen the news footage of our country’s most recent and notorious active shootings in Aurora, CO and Newtown, CT. It’s not necessary to rehash the ugly details of such horrific events. No one wants to think about being caught up in a mass shooter situation, and I’m sure the folks in Aurora and Newtown, plus the students at Columbine and Virginia Tech never imagined what they ultimately endured the day evil came to visit. Although it is statistically unlikely you will ever find yourself at the scene of an active shooting, life is unpredictable and, as I often tell officers, “expect the unexpected.”

For years, the focus has been on the police response to such events. A new trend is expanding this thinking to the citizen response. The release of a video called, “Run, Hide, Fight” by the Houston Office of Public Safety last summer puts the responsibility of your survival in your hands.

This video, which uses an office building as the scene of a mass shooting, encourages citizens to take charge of their safety. Incidentally, most active shootings do occur in the workplace. Because the response time for police to an active shooter can be anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes or more (depending on the location of the crime and number of officers on duty), citizens must make every second count.

This informative video is just under 6 minutes long and is a realistic look into what can and does take place at the start of a mass shooting (notice who is the first to get shot). The message is kept simple, for obvious reasons – your recall of how to react during this time of extreme stress needs to be quick, smart and simple, hence, “Run, Hide, Fight.” Here are the basics:

• Run if a safe path is available. Always try to escape or evacuate even if others insist on staying. If you are going to run, you have to know where to run.
• If you can't get out safely, find a place to hide. When hiding, turn out lights, remember to lock doors and silence your ringer and vibration mode on your cell phone.
• As a last resort, working together or alone, act with aggression, use improvised weapons and fight. This means anything you can get your hands on to fight off the attacker—chairs, a fire extinguisher, whatever is handy. These items may sound like no match to an armed attacker, but at this stage of the event, you must use whatever is at your disposal as it is your last chance for survival.

The bottom line is preparedness. As with all the defining elements in life, have a plan. If you mentally play out how you’ll react in a scenario, you will act much quicker should it become reality. Whether the setting is work, school, shopping or even a concert, have a plan and be prepared.

The "Run. Hide. Fight" video can be viewed in the video window above or by going to www.readyhoustontx.gov.