Today the staff at my mom's Assisted Living residence was given response training for an active shooter situation inside the facility. Law Enforcement identified these places as "soft targets" a few months back, so the employees were required to take this training. I was told by some employees afterward that they were trained to HIde/Fight/Run. What about the residents there that are non-ambulatory like my mom? "Leave 'em".
It is all the same true, of course, that you can't protect everything against everything. But the element of surprise only works once for each strategy (copy cats don't get far), and you can stop places from being soft targets. Anyone trying to ram-raid my kids' kindergarten on a Monday morning or Wednesday lunchtime during the first Gulf War, for example, would have had to get past me in my hi-viz tabard - bet that really scared them off! #hardlass
There is an internet video somewhere of a satirist dressed up in full desert Arab gear, going to various places and throwing his (empty) rucksack at passers by, to highly comic effect. I laughed a lot, but I dare say I wouldn't have done if he'd sat next to me on the Tube.
CWillie, I recall hearing about that shooting but don't recall how the guy got past security. Did he just rush through?
Have to admit that when I think about going to anything with a large crowd, the security issue comes to mind.
In days gone by one would have thought that neither criminal nor even terrorist would fire on a frail, wheelchair-bound elder - if only out of basic self-respect. Given what we've seen globally in just the last twelve months, even that minimal reassurance is gone. This isn't about striking back at oppression, it's about generating maximum horror.
Did your mother's AL address building security? This is an important part of the equation.
Just remember, these guidelines ONLY apply to an "active shooter" scenario...not a natural disater ( Katrina, say) or fire, where the goal is to evacuate everyone.