

While we're talking specifically about mass shootings, like the kind that capture headlines here in the United States, there's no reason that you can't apply this kind of information to any other violent disturbance. In China, for example, 27 people died and over 100 were injured in a coordinated, gruesome knife attack in Kunming. Mass violence can happen anywhere, and the weapons of choice can take all forms. The goal here isn't to discuss a specific type of attack necessarily, but to give you practical tools you can use to keep yourself and your loved ones safe in case violence breaks out somewhere near you.

To do that, we sat down with Matthew Perks, a lawyer for a Philadelphia-area law enforcement agency, and Thomas J Nestel, III, the Chief of Transit Police for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, to talk about practical guidance an ordinary citizen can keep in the back of their head if something does happen and they're caught in the middle of a mass shooting or other violent situation. Here's what you need to know.


Psychology Is a Formidable Foe

In any emergency situation, especially when your life is at risk, a calm head is your greatest asset. That can be tricky, since our instincts have been honed over tens of thousands of years to warn us of danger and get us out of life-threatening situations. When you sense danger, your fight-or-flight response kicks into high gear, and the parts of your brain responsible for higher thinking and logic begin to go on standby.

For that reason, it's possible that if you're ever in a life-or-death situation, you may just do what your natural instincts press you to do: get away as quickly as possible and seek protection in numbers or authority figures trained to deal with the situation. Luckily, both of our experts explained that's largely what you should do. However, instincts aren't always right, and the best way to make the call in an emergency is to have the knowledge ahead of time needed to act without thinking. It's a tall order to overcome the natural state of panic and fear that comes with violence—but being able to make a snap decision to trust your instincts or to change course may be the thing that saves your life.


Be Aware of Your Surroundings

Your safety starts with being actively aware of your surroundings. You might think this goes without saying, but considering people fall down over themselves looking at their phones while they walk, it's surprising how few people really pay attention to what's going on around them.

We're not saying you should be paranoid—just observant. Look around, see how many people are near you, and what they're doing. Make a mental note of anything you think is suspicious. Obviously if you see something that should be reported to authorities, you should, but for most of us, this is a matter of checking out how crowded a place is before we enter, looking around at the people inside and how they react when we walk in, and paying attention if there's a disturbance or situation developing. If you do notice a disturbance—an aggravated customer shouting at a cashier, an arguing couple, or police activity, look around for exits or safe places to get to if things get out of hand. It may be tempting to get closer or see what's happening, or whip out your phone and start recording, but you really should pay attention to how you can get away from the situation before it becomes dangerous for you, too.

If something does happen and you've been aware of what's going on around you, you'll be able to make a beeline to the safest exit, find something to hide behind or barricade yourself into safety with, or some other method to get yourself out of harm's way. When you get on a plane or sit down in a movie theater, you're asked to make note of the closest exit to you, and how to get there if there's an emergency. You should note the exits every time you enter any room.

Remember: Run, Hide, Fight

If you are caught in a dangerous situation, especially one where the actual threat may not be clear and there's panic around you, both of our experts explained that the golden rule to remember and follow is run, hide, then fight. Your goals should be to get away from the danger first. If that's not possible, it should be to get yourself to a place where you'll be safe until the danger has passed. Thomas Nestel explains:

Running, if you have a clear exit, is the best choice. Don’t worry about any of your stuff, just drop it and leave it behind. Try to get other people to flee with you, if they will do so immediately. If you can see a shooter, he can see you, so try to crouch and run as fast as you can so that you are not an easy target. Keep running until you reach a place of safety. THEN call 911. if you are wounded, KEEP RUNNING as long as you can.

Hiding, if there’s no way out, can mean getting behind a tree, car or other large solid object that gets you both protected and out of sight. Most of these kinds of incidents only last for a few minutes. If possible, do what America’s elementary school students are trained to do and hide in a locked room – a dark, quiet and secure locked room. If there are others around, definitely bring them with you, but shush them. You’ll need absolute quiet: no talking, screaming, ringing or vibrating phones or even calling 911. If the door doesn’t lock securely, block it with furniture or file cabinets and pull the shade, if there’s glass.

Nestel explained that there's safety in numbers—if you're really stuck in a terrible situation, your best bet is to defend your safe space if at all possible. Coordinate your defense and try to keep everyone calm and alert. Whatever you do, don't emerge from your safe space until the danger has passed and safety comes to find you—not the other way around.

Finally, if getting away from danger or getting to a safe space aren't options, you may need to fight for your life. It should be an absolute last resort. Remember, violence like shootings or stabbings are disorganized, terrifying, and full of panicking, frightened people. Like we mentioned, the threat may not be clear, you may have no way to fight back, and you don't know who or what you're up against. Worst of all, there's no way for you to properly gauge the threat unless you've been trained to do so.

If you're in a safe space that's no longer safe, or you have some protection in numbers, try to coordinate with others to protect the group. We hear about this all the time when passengers on a plane rally together to strap down an unruly passenger. Grab whatever you can, and protect yourself if it comes down to it:

If you and others can mount a more or less coordinated attack, that can help. Objects such as a chair or lamp can make a good weapon. Fight for your life!

Seize the opportunity. If the attacker's gun jams or needs to be reloaded, use that moment to either run away or at him. That is what people did in Tucson in 2011 when the gunman stopped to reload after emptying his first 33 rounds in the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others.

In short, your safety and the safety of others is paramount. If you can secure it without getting directly involved, do so. If that safety isn't an option, or an opportunity to defuse the situation presents itself and you're in the position and mindset to take it, do so as a last resort. This is an extremely difficult line to walk though—no two situations are the same, and you should do what's best in that situation that you're capable of doing. You know yourself better than anyone—trust your instincts.

Help Others When Possible, and Contact Authorities Only When You're Safe

You may think that contacting the authorities is the first thing you should try to do. It's not—like we mentioned, the first thing you should do is secure your safety, and then you should call the police. You don't want to draw attention to yourself by dialing 911 if you're sheltered in place and waiting for the danger to pass. Also, you won't be able to provide any useful information if you're panicked and running from danger at the same time. If your safe space has an exit, like a window to the outdoors or someplace away from the danger, use it to escape. Make sure that it's safe for you to talk, put your phone on silent, dial 911, and speak as quietly as possible.

The same applies to helping other people—while you should definitely help other people to safety when you can, once you're in a safe space, none of you should leave. You should be extremely wary of anyone trying to gain access to your safe space before the danger has passed. Shooters, for example, are often looking for rack up the body count as high as possible as quickly as possible—opening the door to your safe space may give them an opportunity they wouldn't have otherwise. Remember, this isn't the movies, and your assailant won't look the other way while you "save one more person." By all means, if you're calm and in the headspace to help others, do it, but do it from a place of safety, and don't let someone else's indecision slow you down and extend the danger to everyone.

When police do arrive, stay where it's safe and stay quiet. Remember that their goal is to ensure security and to make an unsafe situation safe again—not just for you, who may be stuck inside—but for other first responders, like firefighters and EMTs, to see to people who may be injured or need evacuation. If you hear or see police, don't come rushing out from your safe space until ordered to do so—just because they're there doesn't mean the area is safe yet.

What If I'm Armed?

We don't want to get into the debate over whether more or fewer armed individuals contribute to or detract from a bad situation. However, we did ask our experts what they would tell someone who's armed to do in a violent situation. Their advice was unanimous: If you're armed, do the same as they suggest for everyone else. Engaging an assailant should be a last resort unless you're trained to deal with these types of situations (and even then, their first responsibility may be to get the public out of harm's way before dealing with the threat at hand.)

Your better bet would be the secure the safety of yourself and as many other people as you can. Nestel explained:

I know that some people have their own weapons but you can't ignore the benefits of training, tactical knowledge, strategy and experience. Escape should be the primary goal for anyone who does not possess the traits listed above.

When the police arrive, make sure your hands are clearly visible and give them as much information as you can. If you have a concealed carry permit, be aware that the police will have no idea who the bad guy is, so be ready to drop your weapon or be mistaken for the gunman.

Perks continued the thought and explained that if you do take action, you should remember that when police or other law enforcement arrive on the scene, their first priority is to secure the area and either arrest or otherwise incapacitate the assailant(s). They'll be looking for someone who's armed, and depending on the severity of the situation, they may or may not give you the benefit of the doubt. Even a moment's hesitation dropping your own weapon could make for a very bad day for you.

How to Follow Up After The Danger Has Passed

Once the area is secure, police will probably organize an evacuation, while EMTs or other authorities will come in to see to anyone who may be injured or unable to leave on their own. Like we mentioned earlier, the whole situation may have you barricaded in a room somewhere, far away from whatever possessions you may have had with you at the time, and possibly far away from friends or loved ones who may have been separated from you at the time.

If the situation is safe, now's the time to look for someone you may have been separated from—outside of the area, of course. It's not, however, the time to go back into the area to try and retrieve personal belongings. Nestel explains:

Whatever way the emergency ends, there will be an investigation, starting more or less right away. Either local police detectives or some other agency will want to talk to as many victims and witnesses as possible. That means you. Those investigators will be able to help you with recovering your property, and they will be able to refer you to get whatever other help you need, medical, emotional or financial.

Depending on the size and scale of the situation, you may not even be approached by police. If you aren't, and you need to follow up, approach an officer and make yourself available. Let them know you want to help, but you also left some things behind, and that now's not the time, you'd like to follow up with someone when everything is settled. If it's a workplace or school, your stuff will probably be where you left it. If it's a public place like a mall or park, pay attention to the news—you may hear there first when the place re-opened, and where to go for additional information. Don't underestimate the value of social media here. Law enforcement, local governments, and even malls and shopping centers all use it.

Finally, don't overlook the mental and emotional stress that being in a violent situation can have on you, or on your loved ones, especially if they're children. Make sure to seek out the right medical attention for any injuries you may have, and if there's counseling available to people affected, take advantage of it. Don't just try to power through it—talk to someone, even if it's family, friends, or a professional.

Hopefully, you'll never need any of this advice. However, violence is fact of life around the world. Regardless of where you live or the type of violence you may have the misfortune to get caught up in, attention to your surroundings and calm nerves can go a long way towards keeping you safe.

Thomas J Nestel III is the Chief of Transit Police for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. You can follow him on Twitter at @TNestel3.

Matthew Perks is a lawyer for a Philadelphia-area law enforcement agency.

Both gentlemen offered their expertise for this post in the hopes of making us all safer, and we thank them.

Photos by Bryan Skiora (Shutterstock), David Williss, Heath Brandon, Victor, Vladimir Koletic (Shutterstock), Julien_N (Shutterstock), and St. Peter's Community.