Survival Options:
Shooting Rampage

The seven survival options for the targets in a shooting rampage: waiting and hoping to be spared, begging, running, hiding, playing dead, body-shielding someone else, or... attacking the shooter. See Optimal Mindset for the attitude needed.

Colin Ferguson prowled the aisle of a Long Island Railroad commuter train on December 9, 1993, randomly shooting passengers with a handgun. He stopped to reload then resumed shooting people. When he stopped yet again to reload, several men finally attacked and disarmed him.

Why didn’t they attack him during the first reloading? Simple. Paralyzed by the surreal horror suddenly exploding before them, they watched spellbound – until one hero broke the spell and the others followed him.

People targeted in an indoor shooting rampage should flee toward exits rather than windowless, dead-end rooms. If trapped in a first-floor room use furniture or anything to smash a window, if necessary, to allow escape. Also, if possible, use a fire extinguisher to spray a dense fog to block a shooter’s view as you escape.

A shooter would likely be stopped quickly if his targets were to mob him in a frenzied swarm. For example, on 9/11, 2001, the heroes of United Airlines Flight #93 swarmed their hijackers and crashed the plane into an empty Pennsylvania field rather than a presumed Washington target – teaching an unforgettable lesson to all the world

The Airline Pilots Association says pilots need all the help they can get. If hijackers are wielding sharp-edged weapons, a passenger can grab a seat cushion as a shield or wrap a jacket around his arm and hand to deflect a blade. If you merely defend, you're likely to lose. You must attack the hijacker. Even throwing objects or hot liquids at a hijacker while others attack him in other ways can save lives. Use anything from belts used as whips to serving carts to ram him. Overwhelm him with the sheer number of passengers. See Hostage Escape and Improvised Weapons.

Before 9/11, random groups of people weren’t psychologically prepared to rise en masse and weren’t aware of their collective power. And the sudden, ear-splitting shock of gunfire often paralyzes people.

On the one hand, a single brave soul rushing the shooter might be quickly cut down, thereby discouraging others from following. On the other hand, reactive aggression by a single victim may well open the floodgates of a mob rush (from all sides) to kill the killer – as the only survival alternative to a continued massacre.

A crazed gunman began shooting fellow students at Virginia Tech on April 17, 2007. He suddenly left the room for a few minutes, then tried to force his way back inside the door, but the students stopped him. A wounded student, Derek O’Dell, said, "You had to fight for your life. If you didn’t, you died."

Another student, Trey Perkins, said he was amazed at how Mr. O’Dell managed to help hold back the gunman, given his injury. "It was just amazing to me that he was still up and leaning against the door," he said. "Derek was able to hold him off while I was helping other people."

However, the news media lavishes publicity on the killers, even though it glorifies and rewards them, in their twisted minds, and inspires the inevitable copycat maniacs. The extensive April 2007 publicity of the Virginia Tech gunman’s ranting manifesto was especially disgusting – and served no purpose other than pandering to morbid curiosity as well as enticing more monsters to kill.

Instead, if the news media were to give the killers minimal publicity while showcasing the heroes in grand fashion, the public would learn a profound lesson again and again: ordinary people can indeed heroically stop killers. Moreover, potential killers would be somewhat less prone to seek a global platform for their demented messages.

Unfortunately, journalistic ethics demand only “truth” – not a moral purpose – thus the lopsided villain/hero publicity ratio will continue while the media vultures do more harm than good.

Rampage shooters – whether in schools, shopping malls, a workplace, or outdoors – usually display the same Shooting Rampage Early-Warning-Signs described in Workplace Safety - Risks & Remedies.

Worst-Case Scenarios:
Crime Prevention Tips for Victims of Violent Crimes
& Personal Safety Devices

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