Overcoming Fear An Important Step To Surviving An Active-Shooter Situation
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — FBI research shows active-shooter incidents are becoming more frequent in the United States, but do you know what to do to survive an incident?
Maybe you don't think about it happening to you, but violence in the workplace is a possibility.
Hector Alvarez has worked in security and law enforcement for 25 years. He says it's very unlikely you'll ever be in an active-shooter situation, but it's better to prepare for it than to fear it.
"The bad guy has already made up their mind. Every second you wait, trying to figure out what's happening puts you in more danger," he said. "It's very important to not be afraid. If I'm afraid of everything, I'm going to miss that one thing that's important."
He teachers a program about surviving these kinds of incidents. The strategy revolves around the acronym MOVE.
M stands for mindset, something you need to form.
"That mindset that you want to go home is the biggest distinguishing difference between possibly being involved in a situation and avoiding it altogether," he said.
O is for orientation, knowing where the violence is taking place.
"Shots heard out there," he said. "We know it's over there. We can't get out that door. What can we do to protect ourselves in this room?"
V stands for volume, putting as much time, distance and material between you and the bad guy. If you can't safely escape the violence, you might have to shelter in place.
"Let's move tables. Let's see what happens. Let's lock that door down so the bad guy can't get in," he said.
This part of the training usually surprises people, when Alvarez asks participants to create a barricade. A messy stack of furniture might not prevent the bad guy from getting in, but it will buy you time and make things harder for him.
"Now they gotta climb over a whole bunch of crap to get to you," he said.
Alvarez teachers another strategy of locking a door down by looping or knotting a belt around the doorknob.
"We could play tug of war all day long," he said.
He recommends covering windows to hallways if you're locked in a room.
"Out of sight is almost as good as being out of the building," he said.
Finally, the E in MOVE stands for engage. As a last resort, you may have to defend yourself.
"We're gonna fight with everything we have and make sure that person coming through the door knows that we want to go home," he said.
Alvarez says if you're with others, it must be a team effort. Things like fire extinguishers make great weapons.
"I want them to have a hail of stuff thrown at them and keep going—you go high, I go low," he said.
Mortgage banker Kevin Fritz went through the training with his partner Realtors. He says the program is meant to avoid violence anywhere, not just at the office.
"You get a lot more confidence because you think, 'Hey at the very least, I have a good shot of getting out of a situation, just because I'm gonna take action."
Real estate agent Morgan Larson uses the training in her office setting and when showing private homes. Following the kidnapping of a local agent in Elk Grove and the murder of another in Arkansas, she says it's changed the way she works.
"When I'm at the location, I'm very just careful about, you know, am I following this person or are they following me? How can I get out?" she said.
Alvarez says people remember bits and pieces of his training. At the very least, he hopes they remember what it's called.
"If something bad happen, you don't have to remember my name, the program," he said. "I just want you to hear in your head, over and over, 'You've gotta move.'"
Alvarez says his training isn't just for the workplace. Those skills can be used whether your in school, at a mall or even out running.