Fighting for your life
October 10, 2018
It’s Tuesday morning. A couple of your friends and you are sitting in the Commons looking at some photos on your friends’ phone of her new puppy. You hear a popping sound.
You look at each other wondering what the noise was. Then, you hear the sound again, and again. Soon, you hear screams.
It’s then you all realize someone is shooting inside of the school. You’re scared, as are your friends. Then there’s chaos and everyone starts running. What should you do? You think back to your Active Shooter Training.
Lincoln Land’s police hold regular Active Shooter Training sessions on how to respond if there is a shooting and how to take down a shooter if necessary.
While not all training is guaranteed, having an awareness of what to do and a strategy for what to do if a shooting begins. Lincoln Land police suggest a strategy: Run, Hide, Fight.
RUN: First if you hear gunfire. run away from the sound. This will get you out of the line of fire. And in the end keep you and others safe from harm.
HIDE: If the shooter is too close, then hide. Simply getting out of sight will slow the gunman who will have to search for a target or move to another area.
If several students can hide in a room, they should shut off the lights and lock the door. They should then block the door with whatever furniture is available. The difficulty of entering the room may deter the shooter from trying to gain access because the gunman will not want to spend the time to enter the room.
FIGHT: If it comes down to it and the shooter is coming after you, then you should fight the gunman as a last resort.
On Lincoln Land’s website, there there is a video on how to respond to an active shooter.
In the video, students huddle until a gunman enters an unlocked room. They throw a handful of loose papers toward the shooter as he enters the room to distract him.
If you are in that situation, the video tells people to devise a plan fro who will do what if the gunman enters the room.
Working together and with a plan gives you and others time to take the shooter down and get the weapon away. But police urge this is a very last resort.
Take the time to watch the Active Shooter Video on Lincoln Land’s website. It only takes a few minutes.
For further information, students can attend an active shooter “take down” demonstration. Contact the college police department in Sangamon 1143 to get more information.
Teresa Brummett can be reached at [email protected].