7
This is a book about survival. It is not about listing all the mass victim attacks—there are many sources that do that. Instead, my focus is on how people have survived across bombings, active shooting attacks, stabbings, and vehicle run-downs. There are commonalities across all forms of attacks, whether perpetrated by international terrorists, domestic terrorists, self-radicalized terrorists, those with serious mental health issues, and those with hate for a group so deep that they risk all to kill multiple individuals of that group. After a career focusing on threat and anticipation of threat, I have realized some key factors to survival. This chapter focuses on these key points.
First, LUCK! Yes, it is possible to be at the right place at the right time. Call it what you will, the attacker approaches you, he aims, you cower, and the gun jams—you escape successfully while he reloads! It has happened, and it has been captured on video (the referenced video link is the definition of luck!).1 Likewise, an active shooter enters a location, you happen to be near an exit and escape through it successfully before the shooter reaches you. There are those who just happened to be fortunate at the beginning or during a mass victim attack. Can you explain it, can you duplicate it, or can it be converted to an actual strategy for survival?
We tend to think of having good luck or bad luck as beyond our control, primarily because it appears to be random. For all practical purposes, we see chance as randomness. For example, we realize that buying a lottery ticket and taking an assigned number is a random process. We are hoping for good luck, or a lucky win. Being a victim of a freak accident, such as a vehicle sliding in the snow and ice and hitting a pedestrian who just happens to be in the path, is viewed as bad luck. Such occurrences reinforce our views of the randomness of luck.
Mirriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary defines luck as “the things that happen to a person because of chance: the accidental way things happen without being planned.”2 There are some philosophical differences between the terms luck and chance, but for all practical purposes they both have the same common element of events happening without our design. For example, the Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary defines chance as “something that happens unpredictably without discernible human intention or observable cause. Which cards you are dealt is simply a matter of chance.”3
It was a normal Sunday evening in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016. Ricardo Negron, a frequent patron of Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, finished work for the day. He decided to go to the nightclub and have a few drinks. People were having a good time, drinks were to be had, and music was playing. Ricardo was near an exit that led to the adjacent patio when he first heard the sounds. After first thinking the sounds were part of the music, it became clear that it was gunfire. The sound stopped briefly, which allowed Ricardo to escape through the exit immediately next to where he was standing.4
Whatever we choose to call this, “good luck,” “good fortune,” or “lucky,” there is no doubting the fact that Ricardo being near an exit when Omar Mateen started shooting was likely the foundation for his survival. Not fortunate were the 49 who were killed. In addition, 53 others were wounded but did survive. As a separate topic, the wounded, injured, and those who escaped without physical harm still suffered, and likely still do, psychologically and emotionally. This topic is so important that chapter 10 is devoted to the psychological effects of surviving the trauma associated with being caught in a mass victim attack.
On the morning of April 16, 2007, Derek O’Dell, a student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech), was attending German class. It seemed like a normal morning. The students in the class noticed a student peering into the room from the door twice, but did not think much about it. The student was Seung-Hui Cho. Then it sounded like a nail gun was being used across the hall. It wasn’t; it was a 9mm Glock pistol. Cho was shooting—wounding and killing—fellow students.
Cho came back to the German class and fired scores of rounds into the classroom aiming at the teacher and students. First killing the teacher, he walked calmly around the room shooting students at point-blank range, typically in the head. He emptied the gun, reloaded, and resumed his shooting spree as some of the shocked students moved around desks cowering, while others headed toward the back of the room. Derek went to the floor as Cho left the room. Derek noticed he was bleeding. Of the 15 students in the class, 5 were left conscious, including Derek. He had been shot in the shoulder. Cho was continuing his killing spree down the hall and had left the classroom door open.
Climbing over desks, students, and blood, Derek and another student who was still conscious closed the door to keep Cho out, just in case Cho came back. Cho did return and tried aggressively to enter through the closed door. He managed to open it a few inches, but the two students were lying on the floor holding the door closed with their feet. Cho started shooting at the 2-inch-thick wooden door. Bullets were getting through at point-blank range. Cho finally left, continued his killing spree, then eventually took his own life.
Later Derek was interviewed by journalist Matt Rogers.5 Derek showed the interviewer the jacket he was wearing during the attack. He was shot once in the left bicep, but there were three bullet holes in the jacket. In addition to the bullet hole that hit him in the left bicep, one was in the right shoulder area, and one was near the zipper directly above the heart area. He was not hit in these two areas. The jacket over the right shoulder, to his reasoning, was slack when the bullet sliced through it, missing his flesh. He also reasoned the bullet must have pierced the jacket in the area near the heart when he was lying on the floor holding the door shut with his foot. The bullet came through the door and sliced through the raised jacket. What is the probability of having three bullet holes in a jacket with only one connecting with the body? We don’t know, but I have never heard of this happening before. One could say Derek was lucky.
At the conclusion of the attack, Cho had managed to kill 32 students, with an additional 15 wounded and sent to local hospitals. There were actually two Cho attacks that morning. The first attack occurred in a coeducational dormitory. In that attack, Cho killed a woman and man. An email from school administrators warning teachers and students was written but, unfortunately and for whatever reason, was not released immediately. Two hours later the email was released, but Cho had just entered Norris Hall and was already shooting and killing teachers and students in classrooms. The heartless slaughter continued until Cho ended his own life.6
On October 1, 2017, an outdoor country music concert near the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas was wrapping up late on a Sunday night. An estimated 22,000 attendees were shoulder to shoulder in an area of about two acres. Jason Aldean, country music star, was finishing the concert with his finale song. Suddenly, rapid bursts of gunfire could be heard over the music.
Witnesses reported that at first they thought the sounds were fireworks, or part of the show. However, with the incessant repeated and long bursts, attendees started falling, bleeding, and dying. It had become clear the sounds were automatic gunfire, or machine-gun sounds. In fact, the shooter had modified 12 semi-automatic rifles by attaching bump stocks—devices that can make a semi-automatic rifle fire continuously. He fired over a thousand rounds during the 11-minute massacre.
Panic and chaos spread throughout the crowd as the shooting occurred. Some victims dropped and remained still, and others ran, almost as a stampede. The bump-stock fire continued for at least 10 minutes. Blood was everywhere as bodies went limp, people dead or in need of immediate critical care. Stephen Paddock, the 64-year-old self-appointed sole executioner, had set up the headquarters of his killing field on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort, breaking out two windows pointing at different angles overlooking the concert field 400 yards away to give him maximum killing venues.
Paddock had constructed a platform in front of each window. On each table was an AR-15 rifle with scope and modified to be automatic—in other words, the rifles could keep firing as long as he held the trigger. The rapid, continuing, and indiscriminate shooting can be heard on many videos taken during the concert. Paddock had at least 19 weapons in that room with ample ammunition. Eventually, the smoke from the rapid firing set off the fire alarm in his hidden vantage point, betraying his location. However, at the time of writing this book, there are still many mysteries surrounding the events leading up to this attack and the underlying motivation that fueled Paddock to commit such a horrific act.
SWAT focused on the room. Paddock had installed cameras so that he could tell when law enforcement would discover him. SWAT exploded the door open, and found Paddock dead apparently by his own hand. Hundreds of sirens were screaming. Some attendees were dead already, some were dying, some were escaping, and some remained to give aid to the wounded, even driving them to hospitals themselves. By the end of that early morning when some of the confusion was cleared, 58 attendees were dead, and 527 were injured and distributed among five hospitals. The mass victim attack carnage was unparalleled in U.S. history.
These are just examples of the many mass victim attacks we have experienced within the United States. You can pick any attack and point to deaths, severe wounding in which victims were lucky enough to survive, and even those caught in the attack who not only survived but were not injured. However, there is much more to this than luck, or chance.
The important premise of this book is that by analyzing how victims survive in mass victim attacks, we can derive strategies for survival. Although survivors’ actions and location at the time may not have been planned, it is precisely the actions and often locations that saved their lives. Accidental survivals can lead to strategies for survival. As mentioned in this book and using Derek O’Dell, the surviving student in the Virginia Tech shooting as an example, you do not want to stand in front of a door to keep an armed attacker out. You certainly want to block the door, but bullets can come through the door. The bullet that pierced Derek’s jacket near the heart came through the door when he was holding the door shut by lying on the floor and using his foot, along with another student. The jacket was loose, and the bullet went through the 2-inch-thick wooden door.
This leads to a strategy: To block a door, lie prone on the floor and use your foot. This is a survival behavior that we can learn and use if necessary. Locations are also extremely important. In the Pulse nightclub attack mentioned above, Ricardo Negron just happened to be next to an exit to the patio. When Omar Mateen entered the nightclub shooting, Ricardo was able to escape through the exit next to him. This converts to a strategy: Know the exits in any location you are in. Position yourself as close as you can to the exit, or a window large enough to break and escape through. What may be luck demonstrates how we can develop strategies that work.
Just as we see a lucky example of being near an exit when an attack starts, we can expand to windows, stairs leading up a flight, particularly if there is an exit, or down, again if there is a downstairs exit. Knowing your location and knowing how to act under different circumstances can increase survival rates significantly. This also can provide a strategy to keep yourself updated in the future after reading this book. New methods will no doubt surface. By reading about survivors and how they managed to live, you may note creative ways people survive in future attacks.
To expand upon this concept, you must be very aware of who you are physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Behavioral and location strategies on how to escape, how to hide if you can’t escape, how to stay in place, and how to attack the attacker as a last resort depend heavily on who you are. This is why simple articles, bullet-point lists, and short videos are insufficient. You must think about the various contexts and how you would handle each of these. In a sense, you can train yourself by realistically considering how you would respond. Such thought can prepare you in the event that you get caught in a mass victim attack. When an attack occurs, it is not the time to try to determine what to do. Seconds count, and if prepared, your escape can start immediately.
You need to consider what you can, and perhaps cannot, do. You must give scenarios some thought, taking into consideration your potential behavior and location choice, given your own personal characteristics. What can work successfully for a 20-year-old athlete is not going to work for a 65-year-old wheelchair-bound person or a 6-year-old child.
WHAT IS A PERSONAL SECURITY PLAN?
Law enforcement over the years has become more accustomed to mass victim attacks. Response is usually measured in minutes. However, results are mixed on what law enforcement does when they do arrive. The Pulse nightclub attack in Orlando lasted for several hours because Omar Mateen not only killed many but held hostages. In the Columbine school attack, an inordinate amount of time passed before law enforcement entered the school building to intervene. More recently, the automatic fire created by Stephen Paddock at the Mandalay Bay Resort on October 31, 2017, had killed 58 and wounded 527 before he committed suicide in response to being discovered by security. As mentioned, officials are still trying to determine just what happened.
Mass victim attacks are very complex, and to law enforcement’s credit, they do an admirable job. They are caught off guard, just like victims. They must respond and then try to determine what is happening before moving to intervention. SWAT may be required, or they may have to go ahead and intervene immediately. However, we must know and fully realize that little intervention is likely to occur for our benefit in the first minutes of an attack. It is fair to say, that the first seconds to minutes are the most critical. The attacker makes use of the startle response, and knows that most will be killed while confused and panicked before victims start scattering for cover. This means, for survival, you must recognize the danger almost immediately and you must react appropriately within seconds.
More than likely, law enforcement will show up on the scene quickly, but most of the damage will have been done. True, they have often stopped an attack from being worse, but the damage is already devastating before they arrive. In some cases, it continues to be devastating even after they arrive. We must always remember that most mass victim attackers are prepared to lose their lives. It is often an all-or-nothing effort on their part. The only concern they have about security and law enforcement arriving is that they pose a threat to them being able to continue their carnage.
What does this mean? It means the first line of defense and security is you! You must know what to look for, and you must know how to react appropriately should the unthinkable happen; that is, you are caught in a mass victim attack. You are not law enforcement, and you have likely had no such training. The whole topic of mass victim attacks may be a mystery to you, or at a minimum, you are not likely an expert in the area.
Most of us take responsibility for all facets of our lives. We pay our bills, hopefully on time. We go to our jobs on time and leave on time. If no job, we seek a new one through a diligent effort. We care for family if we have one, or seek one if we don’t. We drive carefully, to avoid a potential accident. But in some cases, responsibility is not taken. Some text while driving—an accident literally waiting to happen. For those who don’t pay bills on time, consequences are devastating. We may even ignore, at our own risk, key medical symptoms, resulting in early death.
We can either be prepared for the rare occurrence of mass victim attacks or not. I choose to be prepared. Perhaps it is my history of some close calls, but whatever the reason, I choose to be aware and prepared. I pay my bills, I do preventative medical care, and I am prepared as much as I can be for a mass victim attack. I also know to not stand outside in the lightning, to lock my doors, and turn on the security system at night whether or not I am home. I always wear my seat belt, and I drive defensively. When flying, I even listen to the safety instructions about how to buckle my seat belt! This makes me normal. I prefer to be prepared for all contingencies. This book is for those who want to be prepared.
Why should we be concerned? Frankly, if you live in Herrin, Illinois, a small town in southern Illinois where I was born and lived my younger years, your concern is very different from those living in large cities such as New York City and Washington, D.C., that are targeted by terrorist organizations. I do want to be prepared because I am likely to travel to these big cities, and I will continue travelling internationally. If I want to go to popular destinations like London and Paris, I need to know that many mass victim attacks have occurred in these cities. I need to be aware.
Most importantly, even though an international terrorist may not be interested in small Herrin, Illinois, a bias/hate or mental health issues attack of massive proportions could occur there. Frankly, workplace violence, hate/ bias attacks, or attacks fueled by mental health issues could occur anywhere in the United States.
Herrin, a very small town two hours south of St. Louis and 16 miles from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale with a population of around 12,000, would seem to be a most unlikely place for massive killings. But my small hometown has a horrific past, proving that mass attacks can vary from the norm, the usual motivation, and can occur anywhere. On June 22, 1922, the Herrin massacre occurred in what is still the largest killing of strikebreakers in our country’s history. On that day, 50 to 60 coal miners transported from Chicago were working in the mine near Herrin, where workers had been striking. Strikebreakers are labeled “scabs.” From a union worker’s perspective, if there is a strike it must be honored, and you never want to be a scab. The mine entrance was surrounded by striking miners, plus some wives and children.
As the miners congregated at the entrance after finishing their shift, with hands up, they were forced to walk some miles to the Herrin cemetery. There they were lined up along the cemetery fence and suddenly told to run. As they tried to escape, the townspeople opened fire. Dying and wounded, the coal miners were basically slaughtered for being scabs. Twenty-six miners were killed, and some bodies desecrated as they were dying.7
I mention this attack to point out that there are many reasons for mass victim attacks. Hate can be just as powerful a motivator as terrorism. Not all mass victim killings fit a set mold. There were legal proceedings following the Herrin slaughter of scabs, but there were no convictions. To this day, very little is spoken of the massacre by townspeople.
I have heard many say that they are not worried about attacks because terrorists are not interested in their small town. The reason I cover attacks driven by bias/hate and mental health issues is that there are many types of attackers, and they are all deadly. The attacks driven by bias/hate and mental health issues can and have occurred in locations that are less interesting to terrorists. Any location is possible if there is a group of people present.
The good news, if there is any, is that there are only so many ways a mass victim attack can occur. Certainly, there must first be a significant gathering of people, whether it be a fast-food restaurant, a nightclub, or a sports gathering like the Boston Marathon. It does not have to be a large-city target.
On July 18, 1984, James Huberty walked into a McDonald’s in San Ysidro, California, a town adjacent to San Diego with a population of approximately 28,000, and started shooting outside and in. He had several weapons. He shot people outside the restaurant, including children playing in a park. He turned the guns on the 30 customers and workers inside. Victims ranged from 8 months old to 74 years old.
Huberty showed no mercy in his attack, and anyone present was a target. The attack lasted 77 minutes. A sniper eventually killed him with a single shot. At the end of the attack, Huberty had killed 21 people and wounded an additional 19. There was no apparent motive. However, unusually high levels of cadmium were found in Huberty’s autopsy. Cadmium can cause significant health and mental health effects. The mass victim shooting with no apparent motive is characteristic of those more recent attacks fueled by mental disturbance.8
Such tragic attacks underscore the need for personal security. If caught in a mass victim attack, there is no guarantee of it stopping quickly. In the case of the McDonald’s attack, the shooting persisted for 77 minutes. The much more recent attack at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, lasted for almost three hours. Those caught in mass victim attacks can only count on their knowledge of what to look for and how to respond to survive.
We are all different. This is especially true when considering how to respond if caught in a mass victim attack. I define a personal security plan in the following way.
A personal security plan is a self-prepared plan that takes into consideration situational awareness and safety practices when in public places modified to fit personal characteristics.
There are several key points to this definition. First, it is a plan, meaning that you are giving serious thought in advance as to how you would respond if caught in an attack. This includes situational awareness—a strong concept. Military and intelligence personnel learn aspects of situational awareness. It basically means that you are aware of your surroundings at all times, including the behavior of others, location specifics, and how to interpret all seen and heard, particularly with regard to any potential or actual danger.
Situational awareness means being tuned into your immediate environment so your senses can assist you to maximum benefit. You need your eyes, ears, and intact thinking ability. This means leaving the smartphone in your pocket or purse and the earphones put away. Many times I have observed pedestrians walking along the street and even through intersections while texting, entirely oblivious to their surroundings.
Recently I was in a packed restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland, and counted the number of people tuned out. Almost 40% of diners were texting on their smartphones. Two youngsters had on earphones and were playing video games. I watched one family of five and a couple using their smartphones for almost the entire meal, with little conversation. If someone had walked in to attack, they would have lost valuable seconds becoming aware of a bad event starting. They were totally distracted.
Terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and ISIS have called for mass victim attacks using easily obtained tools of death such as knives for stabbing and automobiles and trucks to run over numerous people at one time. We have now seen multiple attacks using both methods, and they are increasing in number. No one should be walking on a street, promenade, or anywhere next to moving traffic while distracted. Again, smartphones should be in the pocket or purse and eyes on the oncoming traffic.
Planning and situational awareness can change being caught off guard to knowing how to respond. It is essential that planning include personal characteristics. Age, physical capability, health, and mobility are different across people. Not one set of steps can work for all. For example, as stressed repeatedly in this book, escape is usually the number-one option to take if an attack begins. If physically challenged or not physically capable of running, how would you escape? Would you have to modify your planning to ensure that you are always adjacent to an exit when in a public place as opposed to just being aware of where exits are located? Would you have to reserve a table near an exit if at a restaurant, bar, or nightclub? These are important considerations.
Location has many aspects. At various levels there is first the consideration of general location. Being in Springfield, Illinois, or in any of the many small-town locations in the Midwest is very different from being in high-target areas such as New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and, of course, Washington, D.C. Next, the activity becomes very important. Is it a sporting event, restaurant, bar, grill, mall, house of worship, government building, etc.? These require different considerations. Regardless of location, you must think ahead and consider your personal characteristics in the location. Furthermore, if responsible for others, their personal characteristics must be taken into consideration over yours.
WHAT DOES A PERSONAL SECURITY PLAN PROVIDE?
A personal security plan presents a variety of features that better prepare us with tactics of survival in the event of a mass victim attack. Furthermore, it has other effects. The plan works to better prepare us for a variety of threatening situations. Unlike some strategies for dealing with attacks, usually focused on one type of attack, if you go through the personal security plan process in the next chapter you will be better prepared for types of attackers (international terrorist, domestic terrorist, self-radicalized terrorist, hate/prejudice, and mental health issues). Furthermore, you will be better prepared for tactics such as massive shootings, bombings, vehicle run-downs, and stabbings.
One of the best defenses is to be aware of what could happen, so that the element of surprise is not as bewildering. The other part of good defense is to know what to do in any location to minimize the probability of being killed. All of this is before the fact and with situational awareness can make you always prepared. This is not to say that you should worry constantly about being attacked or become afraid of leaving the house. It is simply about increasing awareness and being better prepared. Just as we know where to go and not to go in a big city after dark, a personal security plan can become second nature. Increased awareness, situational awareness without distraction, and the presence of knowledge of how to respond immediately is the objective.
Just as important, and maybe more important, is that if you are the responsible adult with this knowledge and you are accompanied by others, you will be better prepared as a group. You could have family, friends, acquaintances, business colleagues, someone who is physically or mentally challenged or very young or very old with you at any number of events or situations. You could be dining out at a fine restaurant or a fast-food restaurant, at a club or bar, shopping at the mall, attending a concert or sporting event, or just walking down the street as a group. All have been locations that have attracted past mass victim attacks. Being prepared is essential.
There is another added benefit to making your own personal security plan and customizing it to meet your activities. That is, the more aware you are, the more likely you are to recognize early signs that someone observed could be a threat. I often hear that nothing can be done about mass victim attacks. This is blatantly false. Many terrorist attacks have been prevented because someone observed threatening or preparation behavior that was reported to local law enforcement. Just as we need to be aware of what to look for to ensure safety (exits, back doors, etc.) when entering a location, we need to be more aware of what to report and report it. Prevention rests with reporting, even if a family member.
What is a personal security plan? As details are presented in this book, you might think it is a very long document to be carried with you at all times! Not true. The process of completing a personal security plan makes it much easier to remember key principles. From experience, I carry information with me that is always useful. I don’t carry an instruction sheet or a field guide. However, I am guided by information that is easily remembered.
When I walk into a restaurant, I know what to look for to maximize safety. I manage to be near either real exits or something that could be made into an exit within seconds. I see stairs, and I may use the facilities just to see what is upstairs or downstairs. I situate myself where I can see or hear entrance activity. There are other key features, easy to remember. I am not 20 years old and not an athlete, so my personal security plan includes the need to be very near an exit because I am not going to be sprinting. Most importantly, I am better prepared.
There are no guarantees, even if you have a concealed carry permit and carry a gun. But being prepared, knowing how to ensure safety, knowing what to observe, and knowing that escape is the number-one consideration all work together to give me an awareness that removes fear of the unknown. I know not to ignore threats and the potential for attacks because they are relatively rare. Getting hit by lightning is very rare, but we seek cover in a storm so as not to get hit. One of the reasons we have fewer fatalities in automobile accidents is because of safety precautions such as wearing our seat belt. Airliners are still statistically the safest way to travel because of the rather large safety features and practices completed before and during a flight. For example, the airliner is checked and rechecked, pilots conduct preflight safety checks, flight attendants provide safety briefings including seat belt usage, location of emergency exists, how to use oxygen masks, and instructions covering when to stay in your seat or move about. Furthermore, all airliners are tracked by radar to provide anti-collision safety, the pilot cabin is locked for safety, and radio contact is maintained with air traffic controllers.
We wear life preservers as a preventative in boats. I insist that anyone on my sailboat wear an inflatable life preserver at all times—even if a champion swimmer. In other words, we follow many safety practices that increase our chances of survival, yet we may not worry about attacks in public places because an attack is rare. The personal security plan is a way to help you have a defense that you put in place before an attack, just like wearing a life preserver or seat belt, and positioning yourself properly in a thunder/rain storm.
What do you need to begin a personal security plan? First, if you skipped to this section or the next chapter, go back and read chapters 1 through 7! The background prepares you for completing a personal security plan. Second, get a tablet or notebook. Jot down anything that seems relevant to you. Perhaps it is a sentence about where to walk on a street, or what could be an exit. As stated in the beginning of the book, the act of taking notes that seem relevant for you is a way of remembering better. This is why we take notes in school.
Think about yourself. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Do you have any challenges? What types of locations do you visit? Does your family go with you, or are you usually alone? What are the differences among international terrorists, self-radicalized terrorists, domestic terrorists, those who attack out of hate/prejudice, and attacks by those with mental disturbance. Background from what has happened in the past helps to anticipate and prepare for the future.