Run, Hide, Fight: What to do in the event of an active shooter
By Matt Campbell | July 23, 2024 | Retired FBI SWAT Team Leader
According to FBI statistics, there have been 456 active shooter incidents in the United States in the past 23 years. Have you ever considered that you might be involved in an active shooter event. If you were, do you know what to do?
The FBI teaches a simple, yet effective, option-based system called “Run-Hide-Fight”. This system has proven effective, however most people do not know much about it, because most people have never even considered that they might be involved in an active shooter situation. Simply acknowledging the fact that it might happen to you is half the battle.
In this article, I will break down each option, Run, Hide, Fight.
RUN:
For some reason, we have the hardest time training people to run. Bottom line is that if you know where the shooting is coming from, just run away from the shooter. It’s just that simple, but time and time again, we see people want to “get down” or hide behind a chair or church pew, and they just fall to the ground. People often tell me, “Well if I run, the shooter will see me and shoot me”. Generally, this is not true. We need to realize, these shooters are not trained professionals, they are complete amateurs, and this is their first shooting event also. The shooter is feeling all the same stress as their potential victims like auditory exclusion, tunnel vision, adrenaline dumps, loss of fine muscle control, etc. Generally, the shooters do not even see people that are running, and they simply shoot the easy targets that are people laying on the ground.
But we must prepare and conduct some pre-planning to know where to run. Always know where the exits are in any building you are in. When at a restaurant, department store, grocery store, church, movie theater, etc., know where the exits are in advance. This way if an active shooter event occurs, you won’t be searching for an exit, you will be able to run straight to the exit. So regardless of your proximity to the shooter, RUN!
ACTIVELY HIDE:
If we don’t know the location of the shooter or can’t run to an exit, then we have to hide. When I talk about hiding, I am talking about hiding behind a solid core locked door. As an example, bathrooms with a door lock are often great lock down rooms. Hiding behind a desk, a church pew, a chair, or other such object is not hiding, it is waiting. Waiting to be shot. In the 456 active shooter incidents in the past 23 years, a shooter has never breached a solid core locked door. If you cannot lock down behind a solid core locked door, you need to run to an exit and get away from the location of the shooter. The term “actively hide” means that in the unlikely event that your door lock malfunctions or somehow the shooter enters your lock down area, you must be staged by the door, not in front of the door, but next to the door, so that you can attack the shooter upon entry.
FIGHT:
And now attacking the shooter upon entry rolls right into our fight option. Consider and pre plan the use of improvised weapons. If you go to a lock down location, try and take an improvised weapon with you in case you must fight. An improvised weapon is anything that we can use to apply blunt force trauma to the shooter’s head. Think outside the box on this one. At one Catholic school I provided training to, a teacher was going to use her statue of the Virgin Mary as her improvised weapon. It was about a foot tall and weighed about 8 pounds. Great idea, and how do you lose that fight with God on your side. In a school or office environment, you can even pre-stage an improvised weapon. A baseball bat is one of my all-time favorite improvised weapons! Either way, if we must fight, be very aggressive, your life and other lives depend on it. Apply blunt force trauma to the shooter’s head until they are no longer a threat.
Hopefully you will never be involved in an active shooter event, but a little pre-planning, preparation and rehearsing will greatly increase your chances of survival.
Matt Campbell is a 25 year veteran of the FBI, during his service he was the Team Leader of an FBI SWAT Team, who conducted operations inside and outside of the United States. Since his retirement from the Bureau, Matt has become a consultant and also runs his own safety and training services, called Survival Awareness. He offers a wide variety of courses, ranging from safety planning for families to active shooter training for individuals, families, groups, and organizations. To contact Matt and speak to him about how he can help you, your family and friends, or even your church group or company, call him on (601) 566-1807.