Running toward the sound of gunfire

[churchmouse]

J706 put my feelings into words. I grew up defending those small and bullied. Always have and always will. This has at times cost me personally but that has never stopped me from acting. My kids and those who we spend time with are pretty much the same way.
If caught up in something like this I/we would do all we could until help arrived. As stated by others we could only hope that help would not mistake us for the BG's

 

[Fargo]

Perhaps I am in the minority but I can say with confidence that I sure as heck will not be running off. Call it stupid or whatever it matters none. I could vision booking off to my car to get better equipped. 95% of the time I am in a patrol car whether on or off duty and for a reason other than free gas. Inside that car is the necessary weapons like M4 carbine, .308 rifle, shotgun, smoke and plenty of ammunition for myself and many others who didn't bring enough, ballistic protection ect. I even have a few extra weapons that could possibly be loaned out to the willing and able. Those things are not there by mistake and most are there at great expense from my own wallet. Would it make a difference? Don't know but we would most assuredly find out.

In something like this mall attack doing nothing is not an option. Those type of thugs need and expect no resistance. Any resistance no matter how minimal would likely save life's and possibly cause change in plans, delays ect. It is highly likely that some determined and accurate resistance could have a serious containment effect, at least in the resisted direction. These kind of idiots want body counts.

Like Denny and others have said there is no way I could live with the fact that I did nothing. Ain't gonna happen. I would plan on giving them all that I could possible give using all of my military and LE training to its fullest. Bet on it.

FWIW I think it is just a matter of time before we will see this type of attacks right here. Coming soon to a congested place near you. I think you can bet on that too.

J706,

While I wholeheartedly agree with pretty much all of your post, I do disagree with the bolded part. While it has been true that mass shooters in this country have historically relied upon meeting no resistance and have wilted in the face of it; I don't think that was the case in Kenya.

They went in there expecting resistance and trained and equipped for a prolonged firefight. That they held off the police and military for 3 days is testament to that.

IMO, what happened in Kenya was truly a military engagement, not a criminal or mass shooting in the traditional sense. They went in there knowing that they were staying for a full on confrontation with military forces.

I'm not discouraging fighting back or saying I would not; but I think that realistically it would be extremely presumptuous to assume that folks like these are not expecting or prepared for resistance. I certainly think that acting as if it is so would be very dangerous. Even the most basic of fire teams can easily roll over an individual, damn near no matter how well he/she is emplaced. Factor in that unless you or I make it to the car and back, we almost certainly aren't going to have a long gun or armor.

Once again, I'm in no way saying that one should flee, but I do think these things need to be considered in how one responds. Immediately dying by taking on an armored fire team with nothing more than a pistol is unlikely to help much of anyone. I personally would make first priority be to obtain a long gun/ammo and preferably at least a couple of other .mil/LE/CCW guys before willfully engaging in a direct confrontation with such a force.


Best regards,

Joe