WSVN — Police will tell you, mass shooters have one goal in mind: Kill more people than the last mass shooter. And as the shooting at the Batman premiere shows us, you never know when or where the next attack will take place.
Walter Philbrick, 911 Store: "This is a very deadly weapon."
Today's mass shooters are well-armed and focused on one thing.
Walter Philbrick, 911 Store: "They're quick and they're deadly."
And being able to react quickly could save your life.
Walter Philbrick, 911 Store: "All of a sudden, there's the gun in your face right there. Now what's your choice? Get shot in the face or do some kind of reactive movement to hopefully survive."
Former police and SWAT officer Walter Philbrick teaches classes on what to do if you're in a situation like the movie theater shooting in Aurora.
He says your first decision: Run or hide.
Walter Philbrick, 911 Store: "If you're more than 12 feet away, 15 feet away, you move, because it's hard to hit a moving target."
If the shooter is close, five to 15 feet from you, seek cover and don't move.
Walter Philbrick, 911 Store: "What he's looking for when he's shooting people, he's looking for movement. He moved. Boom."
If the gunman is in another room, you should react the minute you hear gunshots.
Close the door and barricade it with whatever you can find.
Walter Philbrick, 911 Store: "The shooter is in a time element. He knows, 'I've got two minutes to kill 100 people, and the cops are going to be here.' So slow him down and you save lives."
But if you do find yourself with a gun in your face, never, ever stand there and take the shot.
Walter Philbrick, 911 Store: "Get your head out of the way. Move your body if you can."
Slap the gun away. By the time the trigger is pulled, the gun is away from you.
Even better: Grab the gun.
Walter Philbrick, 911 Store: "Control the gun."
What most people don't realize is, many semi-automatic handguns like glocks can be disabled by simply grabbing the slide on top.
Walter Philbrick, 911 Store: "When she grabs that slide, and I fire the gun, the gun's useless, because there's a spare round in there. It's time to attack or run."
Of course, deciding to attack an armed gunman is not only difficult but dangerous.
Walter Philbrick, 911 Store: "It should be someone who's capable of doing it. If you're 110 pounds and you have a 200-pound shooter, it's not going to work."
But there are moments when an attack is possible.
Walter Philbrick, 911 Store: "The gunshots will be rapid. You'll hear bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. When there's a break in the gunfire, he's reloading. That's your time to assault the attacker."
Another opportunity is to attack from behind, especially if the gunman has a rifle or shotgun across his back.
Walter Philbrick, 911 Store: "Come up behind and grab the weapon and yank it as hard as you can, and pull that shooter down on his back, hard."
The goal is to take down the shooter before the death toll climbs any higher.
For more tips and details about taking a training class, contact:
911 Store and Training Academy
2231 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, FL 33020
(954) 922-9258
http://www.911trainingacademy.com/
E-mail: fl911store@aol.com