Photo by Amanda DePerro
On Jan. 31, the AEP Transmission Center erupted with laughter. The packed conference room watched on as a man, armed with a Nerf gun, fired shots directly into New Albany-Plain Local Schools resource officer Ryan Southers. Southers countered with tennis balls, and the two engaged in a sitcom-like dance of dodging and firing.
Though the mood in the room wasn’t serious, the topic at hand certainly was. Southers was demonstrating how to counter an active shooter.
The New Albany Chamber of Commerce’s Active Shooter Response Training class, in collaboration with the New Albany Police Department, aimed to educate Chamber members on how to react if ever faced with a “bad guy” armed with a gun and an intent to cause major harm.
NAPD Officers Southers and Leland Kelly, D.A.R.E. officer at NAPLS, headed up the presentation, kicking off with two words that have become a household term since the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School: lockdown drills, which the officers say was the defense mechanism to the event that left 12 students and one teacher dead.
The main objective of the talk was to inform on what to do in time between when a shooting begins and when law enforcement arrives. Kelly and Southers brought the room step by step through ALICE Training (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate), the five steps to take to ensure the highest possible survival probability. Despite the dark subject matter, the officers managed to keep tensions in the room low and humor high.
Still, potential volunteers were hesitant when Southers asked who in the room would like to volunteer to shoot a cop.
Photo by Amanda DePerro
A volunteer shoots Southers with a Nerf gun as Southers fires back with tennis balls.
Southers focused on changing immediate responses to an event such as a shooting. The three reactions to fear, says Southers, are fight, flight and freeze. Preparation, he says, is the only way to truly change one’s immediate reaction to fear, and allow one to avoid the “freeze” response, turning reaction into action.
Another fatal reaction to an active shooter situation, the officers tell the audience, is worrying about accountability. Should a teacher find the classroom in a dangerous situation, the last thing he or she should worry about is getting in trouble for, say, breaking a window to escape.
“Survival, not accountability, has to be a priority,” says Southers. “Don’t worry about liability.”
The officers inform the audience that though the overwhelming majority of active shooters have been historically male, an active shooter can look like anyone. And though the average number of people shot in mass shootings has increased steadily over the years, a lower ratio of people are succumbing to the wounds. The officers say that fact can be credited to the increased education on programs such as ALICE and Run, Hide, Fight campaign. The Run, Hide, Fight campaign tells potential active shooter victims to run if they can, hide if they are unable to run and, if hiding is no longer an option, to fight the shooter in order to decrease chances of becoming a victim.
If it comes down to a fight, Southers gets another laugh by telling the room to use whatever is available as a weapon against the attacker. Southers’ personal favorite potential weapon? A stapler thrown at the attacker’s forehead.
“Remember KISS,” says Southers. “Keep It Simple, Stupid.”
Amanda DePerro is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at adeperro@cityscenemediagroup.com.
