A two a day GOOD MORNING!!! to you all! Yup, did two jitsu trainings yesterday. It was awesome to do it but makes it very hard to wake up at 430am the next morning.
What Would You Do Ed-vise today. Cause it’s WEDNESDAY! And I do love WEDNESDAYS!
Back in March 1995, on a busy Tokyo train, a sarin gas attack took place. The attack was carried out by a group called Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth). Killed around 14 people and injured over 5,000. Basically a “Doomsday” cult planned the attack, created the gas, and carried it out.
Fast forward to yesterday.
An individual sets off smoke bombs and starts shooting on a busy Brooklyn subway.
Passengers were trapped simply by the design of the transport system.
I was able to see some cell phone footage of the people pouring, literally, out of the train. Smoke and panic everywhere. You can see the video on pretty much any of the news outlets.
Witnesses say a man opened a smoke cannister and started shooting. The shooter had several high capacity magazines. Which means he intended to do some damage. 10 people were shot, none fatal. Many were injured due to the smoke and the stampede.
The shooting is bad (I know…DUH). I believe the ensuing stamped is worse. The stampede is caused by the panic. The panic infects quickly and causes, well, more panic. This then causes an even bigger stampede. THEN, you add into the stampede that it will probably end up suddenly stopping at a small point of exit (turn styles in New York or a subway door) and even MORE human damage occurs.
What Would YOU Do if faced with a shooter in a crowd that led to a stampede?
This is a tough one especially an initial surge to get out of a confined area. If you have kids…even worse! So, here are a couple of pointers based on my observations of being on mass transit and letting my mind wonder…
If the surge starts and you are standing, KEEP YOUR FEET! If you fall, you are in for a world of hurt. If you have kids keep them on their feet as well. IF they are in a stroller, you will probably have enough adrenaline going to rip them out of the thing and carry them.
As soon as you get out of the door, and I mean like RIGHT NOW, hit a hard left or right. That move will create a small “pocket” for you to recover and get your bearings about you. It puts the hard wall of the train between you and the rushing river of people. Don’t crouch down because you will end up being a tripping problem and create a big pile up. Even if there is a window behind you.
The glass that makes up the windows on a subway/ mass transit are pretty tough. If the shooter is still shooting, more likely than not the bullet will NOT penetrate the glass and hit you. You will hear it smack the glass and that will tell you to get moving.
Once the stampede has passed you by, then start moving out. By then you should have located help or a different exit than the stampede exit. GO! Make sure to use what you can as an obstruction between you and a shooter. Two things will keep you protected: Obstacles like pillars AND movement. Yours. Trust me when I say that it is VERY hard to hit a moving target with a handgun.
Just some things to consider. Tomorrow I’ll talk about (continue preaching) about PAYING ATTENTION!
I’m just saying
That’s it for today. Take care of yourselves. Check in on each other and remember the first animal in space was…THE COW THAT JUMPED OVER THE MOON! HAHAHAHAHAHA…MOOOOO
Peace
Ed-vise 