The Do's and Don't's of Approaching a Gunman
By: Kevin Canaber
@kevinsraz0r
Colleges aim to provide a safe environment for students to learn and grow amongst their peers. But there is always need for a system for handling danger, and one of the most dangerous and controversial threats is a gunman entering campus. It can be one gunman or several, the threat is equally critical and as students you need to know what the do’s and don’ts are to give you the best chance of escaping and surviving the the threat with your peers collectively unharmed.
According to the New York Times, their list of school shootings for 2019 climbed to “at least the 11th this year on a high school or college campus, which have resulted in at least six deaths” following the most recent Saugus High School shooting in California. No matter the odds of it happening, it is always better to be safe than sorry, to be knowledgeable of what to do and what not to do. Your well-being depends on you taking the correct actions, which align with your rights as a student.
Keep in mind every other students have their right as well, ditto the professors and every employee in that situation. But that should beg the question, what are you rights as a student? What can you do—and what can you NOT do? Can you burst out of the classroom and make a run for it? Can you demand everyone to stay in one place? Can you forcefully stop someone who might be endangering himself, you, or others around you?
The Chaffey Campus Police provides their answers and views on these questions. In an interview with Chaffey College Police Director Kelli Florman discusses student rights in this scenario:
“Most students are adults on campus so they do have the right to make a break for it if they want. What we're trying to teach everybody is to trust your instincts, do what you feel is the safest thing for you to do. We're telling instructors, if they feel it's safe to run, that's what they should do. If they feel they should hide, then do that. We're not telling instructors to tackle students and hold them down if they wanted to make a run for it—unless they feel, for example, the gunman is directly outside the door and opening that door would cause danger to people inside. I can't tell you that every situation you do this or that, because every situation is different.”
Through the duration of the interview with Officer Kelli Florman, she offered a few specific do’s and don’t.
1. The biggest do is to trust your instincts, and be prepared in advance for this to happen. Be thinking of what you would before the situation presents itself. In a classroom, or a theater or restaurant, think “if I had to run where would I exit?” or “if I had to hide where would be a good hiding spot” or “or if I had to fight what would be my weapons” This only takes about 30 seconds to be prepared wherever you are! This is a big Do, and be sure you are prepared like this on a daily basis
2. Do not get in a car. Because you’re never gonna get off campus. Yes you are encouraged to run but we don’t want you to run to your cars because if everyone ran to their cards and tried to get off campus it would be just a gridlock and there would be too much traffic for anyone to move. If you’re gonna run, run off campus and out on to a neighborhood.
3. Do not call people to pick you up. Bringing more people to the campus will cause more chaos and the campus would be closed, stopping any cars from coming in as police gain control.
4. Do run off the neighborhoods nearby, and then, if your instincts say it is safe you can consider getting picked up.
5. Don’t run at police because that’s gonna scare them. Show your hands once you see the police but don’t run at them. Show your hands. When you don’t see the police you can still be running. If there’s no police around don’t slow yourself down just run. But if you see the police, do listen to anything they say.