When the Unthinkable Happens: Talking to Teens about Acts of Violence Away from Home. What does my child need to know about active shooter emergencies? The prevalence of random assaults, crowd violence, targeted wilding and active shooter incidents are on the rise and there is a strong probability that your child will not be with you when these events unfold. Parents can take some proactive steps to lessen the risk that arises from these situations. Families shouldn’t live in fear but they also cannot ignore the fact that we live in an increasingly populace and violent society. There is no perfect solution or secret skill that can be learned from any “Expert”. You can create a basic strategy that your family will follow in emergencies and review it periodically. Let’s identify some of the scenarios you may face.
Random Assaults occur when a person or group targets a random person and launches a surprise attack without provocation. The term “Knockout Game” is an example of this type of random assault. It is particularly violent because the person targeted has no idea they will be the victim of an attack. Carjacking is another form of random assault.
Crowd Violence occurs when groups massed together for political, recreational or other reasons become violent toward each other. Political rallies and sporting events can quickly become violent when spectators become uncivil. The particular danger in these events is two-fold; first direct participants can be injured in open conflict and second; bystanders or passers-by can be injured by flying debris or being mistaken for members of rival groups. (wrong place, wrong time).
Targeted Wilding is a term that dates back to the 1960's when teen gangs roamed the streets of New York attacking groups of people and looting stores in random attacks. The modern version is often triggered by a social media blitz that sends a group of teens to a specific location and set time to cause as much damage as possible before the group disperses.
Active Shooter Incidents occur when a person or persons enters an area or building and begins to shoot a specific person or other persons. It is very dangerous because the shooter is usually familiar with the area and able to move freely without being challenged unless confronted by an armed person. How do I get my kids to talk to me about problems before they occur? Amnesty: Teach your children that they can come to you and ask for amnesty and tell you absolutely anything as long as they promise to tell you everything about the incident and in return, you promise to listen without anger and to handle the issue with discretion. Amnesty does not mean that there will be no punishment if wrong has been done but it allows the child to bring potentially troubling information to you when they are not sure how to handle the situation. This works with bullying, threats at school or online and with potentially dangerous activities like drugs and weapons. The key is for you to treat the information as credible because without the promise of your calmness, it would not have been divulged to you. The most important advantage of amnesty is that it allows the child to come forward with information before it becomes serious or is acted upon.
The most effective way to approach this is to have the amnesty conversation alone with the child. Occasionally, the reason the child asks for an amnesty talk with you is because of an ongoing problem with someone in the group. As the parent, you need to separate yourself and your child from the group discretely and temporarily to allow the child to give you a brief synopsis of the issue. This can be a quick trip to the restroom or the car to grab a jacket. This allows you to assure the child you will take steps to alleviate the situation and to discretely approach it with other parents, coaches or administrators. The issues can be as simple as a clothing malfunction, embarrassing situation or as serious as some inappropriate conduct by a teacher/coach or the presence of a loaded handgun in the group. Regardless of the reason for the amnesty talk, you have to protect your child’s disclosure of the information so that they are not ostracized by the group. This can be as simple as a random bag check for a missing object or a quick discussion with the other parents in the group. Getting Started? 1. Have a plan and review it often. When your family sees an event on the news, discuss the facts openly and how each of you would react given the circumstances in the event. Find out what people did successfully and discuss why unsuccessful measures may have failed. 2. Establish a family password that can be used to identify your family members in times of uncertainty. The password should be something that is easy to remember but not commonly used. Example:Kalamazoo, fluoride or a color like magenta. Avoid pet names and words that are used often in public family discussions. 3. Why do I need a family password? Active shooters have dressed like and used law enforcement tactics to lure victims out of hiding. Once your child goes into hiding, they stay there until they hear the family password or are physically found by you or law enforcement. 4. Do not share the password outside your immediate family for any reason. Sharing the password with a family friend or classmate could be a fatal mistake. Boyfriends and girlfriends should not know the family passwords as they are often the perpetrator of these acts in retaliation for an ended relationship. 5. Family Rally Point is a predesignated meeting place where the family will meet if something bad happens in the area. If you are at a theme park or concert, designate the tallest structure or a building near the main entrance as a rally pint. The rally point should be inside the venue and close to an exit because you may not be able to get back into the area if the police close it off. This would leave you unable to re-enter to search for missing group members. 6. Run, Hide or Fight. If you can get out of an area, do so, and do not return for any reason. Go directly home, to a police station or a safe structure. If you cannot run, then hide and stay hidden until you are found by police or parents. Do not come out until you hear the family password or a police officer looks you in the eye and tells to come out. If you feel you have no other choice, fight with all of your energy and determination. Never Quit! How do I hide properly? Hide where you can be completely hidden from all sides but still escape if necessary. Know the difference between cover and concealment.
Cover is anything that is steel, stone or thick enough to stop a bullet. Typical sheet-rock in buildings will not stop modern bullets from penetration. Cover requires four inch or thicker concrete, wood or two inch steel doors to provide sufficient stopping mass. Cover works best when combined with concealment.
Concealment is anything that keeps a person from seeing you. Concealment is only advisable when avoiding detection and affords virtually no protection from direct fire weapons. Ask yourself; would a bullet pass through this barrier? If so, it is insufficient to hide behind.
Defilade is any object that obscures the view between you and the attacker or stops incoming bullets. A smart way to escape from a person shooting at you is to use large, heavy objects to obscure your movements. Running between cars or crawling along a low wall below the sightline of a shooter are examples of using defilade to escape bad situations. If you can see the shooter, they can see you and shoot you.
Terminal Ballistics refers to the maximum distance a bullet can travel through the air unimpeded before it runs out of energy and impacts the ground. The average AR-15 rifle round travels approximately 3,000yds or 1.7 MILES before it runs out of energy and impacts the ground. Put your phone down and get behind something large even after you get out of the immediate danger area. You are not truly safe until you are 2 MILES from the danger area.
Silence is golden. Hide and do not make any noise until law enforcement physically find you. Mute mobile phone ringers and use text messaging to communicate with family. Lower the screen brightness to prevent detection. Have a second way out.
Note: You should always call 911 but in some cases, you may not be able to verbally communicate with the dispatcher but stay on the line and do as they tell you. How to get out of troubled areas? 1. Stay calm and don’t panic. Panic is contagious, spreads quickly and causes poor decision making. 2. Gather your family/group quickly, quietly and discretely before you decide a plan. 3. Move toward walls and follow heavy structures as cover as you exit. Stay together as a group and move steadily. 4. Strongest member leads, second strongest in the rear to keep slower members caught up. Hold hands and stay low as you move. 5. Stay together, move together, hide together and fight together. Strength lies in numbers. 6. If you must fight, everyone fights until everyone is safe. Blind your attacker and attack the head and neck area. The term violence of action refers to the use of overwhelming force on an attacker in order to confuse and slow their reaction down allowing your side to make accurate strikes and blows. The shear confusion of so many hands, objects or people coming at someone at one time makes it difficult for an attacker to make clear and accurate shots. What should I avoid? 1. Stay calm and remember that nothing is more important than your life. If you forget something on the way out, leave it. Never go back into a danger area.Objects can be replaced, but you cannot. 2. Your ego is often your worst enemy. Few conflicts escalate without one or both sides feeling that they cannot back down for some perceived reason. There is rarely a valid reason to instigate violence against another person. Let it go! Walk Away! 3. Fatal Funnels or bottlenecks occur when a group of people rushes to a single exit point. The exit point becomes a funnel and the entire group becomes trapped in a small concentrated area. 4. Flush Ambushes occur when one person enters an area and starts shooting to flush a panicked crowd into a smaller or less covered area where a second person can more easily attack the group. This is why you leave the area and don’t return until law enforcement clear it. The Columbine High School shooters used this tactic to force students out of the safety of classrooms and into the hallways. What do I do if I have no choice but to fight back? Distract, Attack and Extract Distract your attacker with anything you can to hinder their vision. Fluids, smoke, sand, books or fists.
Attack the eyes, face and neck area with as much force and repetition as possible until the attacker is blinded, flees or is unconscious.
Extract yourself by leaving as quickly as possible, stay low and quiet as you move.
Improvised Weapons: Your imagination is the only limit. Mounted: Fire Alarms and Extinguishers. Pull the fire alarm alerting everyone that there is a problem. Grab a fire extinguisher from the wall and fill the area with smoke by spraying the extinguisher as you flee. A shooter cannot hit what they cannot see. Use the empty fire extinguisher as weapon to hit the attacker.
Closets: Brooms, Mops, Chemicals Open Areas: Pipes, Rails, Support Posts Offices: Anything heavy that can be thrown Fluids: Cups, Bottles and Buckets
What do we do with weapons once I am safe? If you use an improvised weapon or find yourself with the shooters weapon you need to put it down before you approach law enforcement so they don't mistake you for a bad guy.
1. Assume all weapons are loaded and ready to shoot. 2. Never point a weapon at anyone unless you feel that your life will be taken if you do not use the weapon. 3. When you first see law enforcement, lay the weapons straight on the ground SLOWLY and place your hands up so that they can be seen from all four sides. Hands need to be empty. No phones or dark colored objects in the hands.PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY! It looks like a GUN to law enforcement personnel! 4. Follow the instructions of law enforcement exactly as you are told. Police officers have no idea whether you are an innocent bystander or the criminal so for their safety, they have to treat everyone, including you as if you are the bad guy until they get you searched and securely moved to a safe area. 5. Do not tell your entire life story when you encounter police. They need specific information that helps them identify and contain the person(s) that is causing the problem. There is a simple acronym you can learn to give police the information they need quickly and accurately.
There is a simple acronym you can learn to give police the information they need quickly and accurately. How many people are causing the problem? Equipment they have with them? Last location where you saw them? Possible location where they are headed?
This information will help police locate the person(s) and know what type of weapons and body armor the person may be using. If they need more details, they will ask you. How do I get out of a crowded place? Whether you find yourself in a crowd at an open area event like a concert or in a closed area like a mall or theater, you need to understand some basic laws of large numbers of people. 1. Panic causes people to make rapid and rash decisions. 2. A panicked group quickly forgets the rules of courtesy and chivalry that we are accustomed to in group settings. It becomes an “Every man for himself” crowd mentality. 3. A panicked group can stampede like cattle and push even the strongest person to the floor where serious injury can occur. 4. If you are caught in a mass of moving people, you will NEVER be able to move upstream against the flow of traffic. You need to move to the side of the group as close to the wall as possible and try to stay together with your group or blend in with the back of the largest group moving in front of you and follow them out. 5. When you feel the space and opportunity to get safely away from the flow of people, then do so quickly and quietly while making sure everyone in your group is with you. 6. Never go back into a building or area where a mass crowd has just stampeded because you may run into another group of people fleeing or the threat from which they are fleeing. When you’re out, stay out. 7. Do not go to your car if you feel that the danger is present in the area. You can hide for hours in a safe place and come back later via cab or on foot when you are sure the area is safe. Cars can become bottle-necked in lines exiting the parking area leaving you at the mercy of a walking person with a weapon. 8. Remember that you have the rest of the world to escape this area and all the time in the world to get your things back. Get to safety even if you have to crawl, walk or run through mud, water or other hazards. Keep Moving! What else should I know? 1. Lock doors as you leave an area if you are the last one out. Limits the shooters ability to move around. 2. If you are caught in the open, play dead and do not move. Shooters may pass over you for moving targets. 3. Turn off lights as you move. Limits the shooters visibility. 4. Barricade yourself in rooms with furniture against the door. May impede bullet penetration or deter shooter. 5. Never chase after a fellow hider if they decide to leave. If you are safely hidden, stay that way. 6. If you know the shooter, do not attempt to approach them. Many of these incidents occur after a serious crime at a previously location. Assume the person you know is bent on killing you and anyone else they encounter. You will not change the course they have set but you may become their next victim. 7. Nothing you have done warrants any violence against you and you are not responsible for stopping the shooter regardless of your prior relationship. 8. Everyone is highly stressed, including the police, so be quiet, stay calm and follow their instructions. They have training that you do not and they need to move a large number of people to safety quickly. 9. Occasionally, an active shooter will blend in with the fleeing crowd attempting to escape. If you suspect the shooter is in a group with you, do not yell and point them out as soon as you see a police officer. Ask an officer for medical assistance and quietly describe the situation. Officers can get back-up and separate the shooter from the group without the person suspecting they have been identified so that they don’t open fire as they are being approached. This affords the police time to move heavier vehicles and position marksmen. 10. If you are hidden and safe, prepare yourself to stay there until at least darkness falls. It can take several hours to locate and stop a shooter who has barricaded themselves into a room. It may also take some time to search and secure a large facility. 1. What about travel away from home? 1. Know as much about the area as possible 2. Have a plan for evacuating if something goes wrong. Make sure that you have two or more routes out of the area that use different roads. 3. Have basic first aid, non-perishable food, water and personal defense items in your vehicle. 4. Have a meeting place where your family will go if the hotel is damaged or unavailable. 5. You may assign a temporary group password for a group if you are travelling with friends that can be used to access hotel rooms or vehicles in emergencies. Final Thought: The nature of this subject makes it difficult to imagine but it is equally difficult to watch children running for their lives every few weeks on television. As a parent, you spend your life’s energy and time teaching them how to ride bikes, cross the street and avoid dangers. This is just another life lesson you need to teach. It is not an easy thing to discuss but, you need to tell your child that your most important goal in all of this education is for them to come home safely to you. It may mean at some point that they have to act in their own best interest and make decisions that take them away from their friends or force them to run when others stay or to fight when others don’t. You have to be clear to your child that these situations call for extraordinary courage and that no decision they make will be the wrong one as long as it leads them safely back to you. Combat veterans and law enforcement personnel who are specifically trained for these events make many mistakes when these situations occur so never feel that you could have or should have done anything differently. No one cares how you survive as long as you do. What if I want to learn more? Talk to law enforcement. Take a self-defense course Learn about different self-defense tools There are many resources available on line by searching self-defense or travel safety, etc. https://www.ready.gov/active-shooter www.fbi.gov https://www.dsac.gov/ https://www.alicetraining.com/ About the Author: Shane Francis has over 30 years of martial arts experience including military and martial arts instruction. Shane holds a 7th Degree Black Belt in Chuan Fa Kenpo and is the Program Director for the Chuan Fa Martial Arts Association. Contact Us: Shane Francis Telephone: 850-393-1106 E-mail: ksatreya@cox.net URL: pensacolamartialarts.com
Disclaimer: We have provided this brochure to help you start a conversation and a plan that you can employ should the need arise. There is no plan of action that is foolproof and we recommend that you seek advice from multiple sources for additional information. Take what you feel is useful and supplement with your own research. No one plans to fail but many fail to plan.