Strategies for surviving a school shooting

Politicians and activists disagree over what causes gun violence and how to prevent it, but during a school shooting only one thing matters to victims: survival.

“If you have a way of not being there, get out,” self-defense expert Lawrence Kane told KTTH Radio’s David Boze. “Sometimes you can go through a window, you can go through a sheet rock wall. Even where there isn’t a door you can make one.”

Active shooters, also known as spree shooters, are individuals targeting public, populated areas with the express purpose of killing others. The Federal Emergency Management Agency reports active shooters are unpredictable and there’s often no pattern to how they select their victims.

In order to survive an active shooter situation, Kane said people need to realize they may need to take drastic measures.

“Good-hearted people don’t want to have to do extreme things,” Kane said. “The challenge is you can talk somebody down before they start shooting, but once they become an active shooter the only way to stop them is to break them.”

The easiest way to break someone, Kane said, is to fight fire with fire.

“Most teachers don’t have 40 years of martial arts training,” Kane said. “I do, and I’d much rather try to shoot a spree killer than try to disarm or do something less lethal because I don’t think I’d survive it.”

Guns aren’t always at hand though. In that instance the key is to look for an opportunity to attack, Kane said, like when the shooter pauses to reload.

“You want to just go all out just as hard and fast as you can with the attitude, ‘well he might take me out, but at least I can save everybody else,'” Kane said.

The end goal is to knock the shooter down and separate him or her from the weapon. Any nearby item can be used as an aid in that effort &#8212 books, doorknobs, desks.

“There’s a lot of things you can use that’ll hit harder than hands or feet if you’re not trained,” Kane said.

After the Umpqua Community College shooting, John Parker Jr., a student and veteran, told MSNBC he carried a concealed handgun to school the day of the shooting, but didn’t use it, in part, because he didn’t want to be confused for a bad guy once police arrived. Kane said he understands the concern, but waiting for police isn’t always realistic.

“Lets face it, the cops took over 10 minutes to get there,” Kane said. “The average person can fire, ignoring reloading, at least 120 times per minute, so I would much rather try to stop the guy.”

Kane believes active shooters intentionally target gun-free zones because there’s a smaller chance an armed citizen will fire back. He used the theater shooting in Aurora, Colo. as an example. Kane said the shooter passed other larger theaters on his way to his selected target.

“Why?” Kane asked. “Because it was a gun free zone and the other ones weren’t.”