He can only face one direction at a time.
True, and despite the gas mask, I figure he wasn't able to see any more clearly than anyone else there.
Sidebar: a short time after Columbine, a man with his head screwed on straight began offering seminars for school kids whereby he instructed them in alternatives to hiding under their desks, kissing their asses goodbye, in the event they should find themselves under siege. He advised the kids to begin throwing anything and everything at the assailant in order to distract him enough to either grab away the gun or knock him on his ass -- and then grab the gun if they could -- or to provide any opportunity for some to run away to safety.
Ran across
this today; {eta:
I don't know if it's} It is not the original
as I mentioned. Nevertheless .... The author's first piece is "Let's Roll"; this one is more action-specific, and titled "Let's Roll II". Flight 93-type "Let's roll ....".
"So, what can teachers and students do differently, so that things don’t go badly for the “false positive” scares, but gives them a fighting chance when things take a dramatic turn for the worse, and the shooter is at the door? What can be done that doesn’t require massive bureaucratic intervention and interference? The police come to stop the violence by displaying a willingness and ability to use counter-violence – why can we, the average person, not do the same?
Use history and human nature as guides. Most mass shootings (just talking about in the developed world, and not government-sponsored or drug-war stuff) have been lone gunmen, so you likely only need to stop one and you are done – that’s the history. Secondly,
it is human nature to duck and dodge things flying into your face or at your body, and it is very hard to focus on something precision (like aiming and shooting) when you are in pain and blind. So, when a lockdown occurs, rather than immediately cowering in fear hoping to be shot last, everybody grab something they can throw, or hit with, to use as a weapon, or get out a BRIGHT flashlight (or even a cell phone camera flash; temporary blinding and disorientation is a MAJOR help in a fight). When hiding, arrange yourselves around the door or other most likely entry point, with the biggest and strongest nearest the door, but at least a few paces back. Those nearest the door should be holding stuff that makes a good club (be creative – like the heavy iron 3-hole punch, a meter stick, using a marker or Sharpie like a kubotan, or a shovel from the wetlands ecology project last month you just “happen” to still have), or a couple of them might use a desk they can push or hold up in front of themselves. If an active shooter comes in the door, everyone shine lights in his eyes, throw stuff at him, scream a battle cry, and CHARGE! The folks in the first rank charge in, planning on knocking the weapon up, jamming the action, hitting or blinding or disabling the shooter in any way possible. Bury him in weight of numbers, use knees, biting, clubbing, anything that causes pain, distraction, immobility, damage, or blindness. The second rank should be ready to dive in to help, pull back the injured to clear the way for more counter-attackers, or whatever. The physically weakest should shine flashlights into the attacker’s eyes to blind him, watch for other shooters, or prepare to lend a hand in any way possible (such as keeping a power-cord or other tie-‘em-up handy to give to the primary counter-attackers once the shooter is subdued). If the event happens in a cafeteria or gym, throw your lunch, a can of soda, hot soup or coffee, a ball, or anything else handy, and charge in for the take-down. This sort of plan does not interfere with the normal lock-down procedures of “lock-lights-hide”, can be implemented independently by individual teachers, and can be modified and adapted to specific classroom layouts and student age and abilities.
It empowers kids, and trains them that the proper reaction to senseless violence is not cowering in fear or meek compliance but to do what the police do and use determined and purposeful counter-violence, to raise the price of being anti-social. It creates an anti-victim mindset. It lays the groundwork for a stronger appreciation of what it is to be an American, and a free human. It also inculcates a recognition that action is what stops psychopaths.
Now, to be sure, many police departments are likely to oppose this idea – it’s their job we are talking about taking from them. If after an attempted school shooting, two rookies, a sergeant, and a coroner with a spatula can clean up and document the mess, then there are a whole lot of neat toys the local PD can’t justify buying, and a lot of security programs that won’t get funded, a lot of grief councilors won’t be hired. It is in their best interests for you to be dependent on them; it is not in your best interests, however. Some teachers will be opposed to it too, on the grounds that it flies in the face of their ideology of “violence never solved anything,” which is laughably, provably, wrong, as well as being quite at odds with American history.
If people are trained to do this in schools, then mass-shootings elsewhere in public become less likely, too, because a “counter-attack” mentality means they are more likely to be dragged down promptly, ending the spree. It will teach teamwork and coordination, self-defense, and an active rather than passive mentality. It will also help in building self-confidence, by creating an independent outlook on life. Research shows that people who are targeted in a violent confrontation have much less PTSD and other psychiatric recovery issues if they fought back and won, even if injured, than if they were a passive receiver of violence. When the would-be victims fight back, it allows for heroes worthy of emulation on the good guys side, and destroys the image the sociopath has of themselves.
Is this a perfect solution to the problem of mass shooting and murderous psychopaths? Will it guarantee no casualties? Will it always work perfectly? Well, no, of course not. All choices and actions are an exercise in trade-offs. But it is virtually free to implement, may be laid out in a very short time to a class if an emergency arises elsewhere in the building that you fear might head your way, has many potential positive side-effects, and few downsides. It’s a start toward creating a mindset in the nation of refusing to be a victim."
Not only do the cops not like this, I'm betting a good majority of the teachers won't either. In those cases, parents need to cobble together a group of kids and their parents and present their own seminar.
