There was another mass shooting recently – this time, at a university in Michigan.
We mourned for the lost lives of the students while we tried to focus our own communications on information and preparedness.
After spending far too much time reading the news, I signed myself up for the online course/video offered by UA called Run, Hide, Fight.
It was a half-hour video presented by the UAPD with information on how to react to an active shooter event and while it was well done, it was also terrible.
They talked about the goal of the shooter being a “high body-count” and how we should try to Run if we could to get away (and how not to be mistaken for the shooter and be shot ourselves by law enforcement). If we couldn’t Run, we were supposed to Hide and barricade ourselves until getting an all clear. And if Hiding wasn’t an option, it was time for improvised weapons and rushing the attacker and Fighting to save ourselves.
There were two videos they played in the presentation and the first was set in a nightclub where the patrons were reacting to an active shooter and then “breaking the fourth wall” to explain to the camera and us what they were thinking and what they were doing. Intense, but useful to see this planned out. Maybe even a little reassuring that it was possible to think and not panic.
The second was in an office environment. There were no thoughtful cutaways and helpful tips, it was just a gunman flatout murdering people with a shotgun. A few people managed to do the Run, Hide, Fight as they were trained, but only after they had been alerted to the threat.
Now, I’ve watched a lot of TV shows and movies and I’m not bothered by violence on the screen. I can see how it advances the plot, the motives are clear, and the hero saves the day in the end.
This one, though, really bothered me. No clever plot device and no distancing us from the actors – we were expected to put ourselves in the role of the victims and it was all too easy to do so.
After it was done, I was a little shaken up and started to look around our office as a risk assessment. We’re in a big glass building in the middle of campus, our office suite has only one exit right onto a main hallway, and the main door to our suite has a big panel of glass. Running didn’t seem like much of an option and Hiding didn’t seem any better.
So, that evening I went to the store and bought a curtain and tension rod and then put it up the next day. Since the suite lights turn off from a motion sensor, we use lights in our individual offices to work by. With the curtain drawn and no lights visible from outside, we would look like we weren’t home. So, a quick move to deadbolt the door, barricade ourselves in our own offices, and then consider going out a window if it came down to it.
I felt a little bit better after I made a plan and put up the curtain – knowing that even the prey with the best camouflage sometimes still gets eaten.
They don’t know why the shooter went after the students at the university in Michigan. He had no ties there and didn’t even live nearby. But, I guess if you are looking for that body-count, you go where the people are and create as much fear as you can.
So, we’ve watched the training, learned the mantra, and have a little plan to try and keep us safe.
But I don’t feel safe.