Guide to Surviving a School Shooting
(Taken from sources online and survivors of such tragic events!)
- First sign of an active shooter and you’re in a classroom: lock the door, turn off the lights, get as far away from the door as possible, use any object available to cover your body/head. Turn the desks sideways and use them as a barricade. Books. Filing cabinets. Shelves.
- If you’re hiding in a classroom and you hear someone say “POLICE! OPEN UP.” Do not open that door! Shooters often impersonate the police in order to get people to open the door.
- If you find yourself outside when the shooting takes place: run to the nearest road/shop/establishment while calling authorities.
- If you’ve found a hiding place, turn your phone on silent/‘do not disturb’
- Avoid videoing the shooting. This gives you tunnel-vision and may take you out of survival mode!
- Know your exit strategy: Make sure you know where your exits are and RUN.
- FIGHT. If unable to run or hide, and you come face to face with the shooter. Fight! John Bruner, a 20-year law-enforcement veteran who is the former Chief County Detective with the Greene County (Pa.) District Attorney’s Office.. “you have to fight for your life,” Scissors, hot coffee, the coffee carafe, other glass objects from an office pantry, for example. Fire extinguishers, either engaged or as a weapon to inflict blunt force trauma, are good. Books, Chairs, Shoes, FISTS.
- He also states, ”Most people who are shot by a gun survive. So understand that and cling to that. Just keep fighting. … You want to buy time. You want to distract this person, because it’s going to take police three or four minutes to get there.“
- If you’re running away from the shooter, run in a Zig-Zag!! This lessens the chances of getting shot in areas that may be fatal. The fatal areas are the torso, head and back: if you can, use your hands to cover these areas.
- If you find yourself in the hallway and the shooter is firing their gun (if you can’t run), play dead! Make sure your body is facing down so you can breathe/blink without fear of doing so. It is more likely than not that they won’t shoot you as they want to preserve their bullets.
- If you see/ hear anything, report it! Action is key in a school shooting, time is precious. The first sign of something “not quite right” report it and call authorities.
* these are obviously tips and some guidance. In the actual moment of a shooting, trauma and fear set in and actions become unpredictable *
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