How would you handle a shooting?

Allyson Taylor, 18, tried to reason with a gunman when he barged in to the Yuba City, CA Big 5 store she was working in last week. She convinced him to turn himself in to police. Read more

Juan Carlos Alvarez, 29, grabbed Taylor and took her back to where the safe was located. He kept her there for four hours.

Taylor said she looked him in the eye and began talking to him about his hopes and family. She said she could tell that he was upset and he wanted to be able to see his daughter again.

Taylor told him, “As long as you don’t hurt me, you can see your daughter again.”

Alvarez eventually gave in and left the office to surrender to police.

Taylor is being praised by police and co-workers for acting calm and cautiously.

Recent shootings in Arizona, last year, and in Colorado, last month, often leave us wondering what we’d do in a similar situation. Many of us at KIRO have admitted to recently sitting in a movie theater and taking note of the exits.

Not every shooter seems to be able to be convinced the way Juan Carlos Alvarez was at the Big 5. Maybe Taylor just got lucky or maybe it was something bigger, but it’s almost impossible to imagine yourself dealing with a madman.

What you’re saying on Facebook:

Michael Preston: I would try to talk a gunman down. If that isn’t working and it looks like he’s going to shoot me any way, I would look for an opportunity to disarm him. Above all, stay calm.

Erika Rummell-Romero: It’s something I never considered before I had a child. I’ve always said I’d take them on. Now I think I would try talking them down/ distracting them with relateable conversation, even taking a bullet….anything to keep my daughter safe.

Lance Huffington: Since I carry and I’m “semi trained”, (still training) I would first try to talk him down, but given a choice between him making my wife a widow and ending his life, the choice would be very clear.

Daniel O. Thieman: Yeah, I just wouldn’t stand for it. I carry.

By Stephanie Klein, MyNorthwest.com Editor