The following stories were curated from the PACT Consultant Group’s Training Newsletter^©. Each piece was written by Ron Borsch, an active member of the Hero 911 Network and Guard 911. We thank you for your contributions to the following subject matters.  

LE Lifesaving Lessons

Mass Murder by active killers or terrorists can and have occurred almost anywhere. As a SWAG estimate, (Scientific-Wild-Ass-Guess), under the 80/20 rule, overall in past Rapid Mass Murder^© LE responses, 80% of potential lifesaving time was squandered by law enforcement by first delaying to round up a “Posse”, The causes are faulty training, failing to follow up-to-date protocols for Murders-In-Progress Lifesaving, or human error. That is why in the past, only half of Rapid Mass Murder^© was ever stopped by anyone. Of the half of RMM that was stopped, it was on-site citizens, initiated mostly solo and unarmed, stopped about 2/3rds, the remaining 1/3rd was stopped by off-site LEOs. That begs the question for any remaining LE groups preferring the Posse Theory^©: “Just how many armed LEOs does it take to equal one unarmed citizen”? In our proprietary Stopwatch of Death research database, back to 1975, we are only aware of one successful LE response of four or more officers, (this is known as a clue). Most of them were initiated SOLO. We cannot depend on our very best LE men and women always arriving first. To reduce these Fatal-To-Innocent-Citizens mistakes, we need to ensure that every LEO has the right training and tools, such as a patrol rifle, to engage active killers as quickly as possible. Note that the documented and overwhelming successful law enforcement response against the murderous random actors has been and is initiated by Single Officer’s Lifesaving Others^©.  

Active Killer Risk and Response

Our long-time readers are aware of the necessary speed on-site-action of law enforcement first responders required to save the most amount of lives in a Rapid Mass Murder^© incident. Of LE response successes, Single Officer’s Lifesaving Others^© has been the most effective, (documented +/- 70% and improving). In 99% of RMM incidents, the active killer is alone. In the only two incidents where there were two active killers, they never separated, staying together as a murderous duo. In spite of most enlightened LEO’s knowing this, articles that even agree with the SOLO response, often use a poor visual like a picture of a documented slow and INEFFECTIVE “Posse” tactical formation. Such is the photo in an otherwise decent article wearing shorts and T-shirts demo in a “Dojo” setting in our resource section article: Preparing for the Worst: How to Respond to an Active Shooter. The professional and preferable term active killer and the term active shooter are NOT interchangeable. There are different protocols involved. Our proprietary “Stopwatch of Death^©” database is based on a protocol for Rapid Mass Murder^©. Active killer is a very precise term, “One who commits Rapid Mass Murder^©”, by any means, rather than the two neutral word label of active shooter, which requires further explanation as to why it means something criminal. However, “No one has a monopoly on the truth”, and everyone means well, so here is information about a free webinar on “Active Shooter Risk and Response for Campus Safety”. The current webinar will be over by the time you read this, but there may be future seminars, (contact Everbridge). The Everbridge information here appears to be valid: “Public safety must confront the troubling reality that one person can, in a few brief moments, devastate a campus community through an act of targeted violence. There has been a rise in campus shootings, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education. The active shooter threat is a dynamic, multifaceted problem that requires a multidimensional approach to prevention, response and recovery. Case studies have indicated that shooters often begin planning and preparing for an attack weeks, months and sometimes years ahead…”   

Active Killer Stabbings

In the last decade, (2007-2016), non-terrorist related harm by an edged weapon, (knife, machete, spear, etc.), has averaged 0.8 Rapid Mass Murder^© events per year. Curiously, in the first half-decade, there was only one event, but in the last half-decade, every year had one, except for 2014 which had three events. This of course means that RMM edged weapon events are undeniably increasing, and that it is reasonable to believe that we are in store for more. These random actor events are most probably the result of being inspired by criminal Islamist terrorists instructed by certain Imam’s and the Islamic State. For example, the Internet instructions for low-tech Do-It-Yourself mass murder methods such as Motor Vehicle Mow Downs and knives when acquiring guns or bombs is difficult. For much the same reasons, the protocol for random acting active killers in our RMM database, active killers would be attracted to common knives as easier to acquire, easier to conceal, easy to operate, no reloading, and of course the No-noise surprise. The no-noise aspect is another reason why the two neutral words “active shooter” fail as a descriptor such as at OSU Columbus OH warning alert. The MVMD and stabbings triggered an “active shooter” alert. If students could not hear gunfire they must be safe? NOT! Fortunately, the only gunfire was by a nearby accurate and actively shooting hero OSU officer acting SOLO that stopped the attempted active killer. See an extensive and very detailed analysis in Article: ANALYSIS The OSU Terrorist Attack by Greg Ellifritz. On another note, the interesting Spear-attack in Orem UT high school locker room before 0800 am has 3 videos and article “A” student, 16-YOA stabs 5 and self. MO Spear (knife on stick), is in our resource section.  

BENEFIT: Armed On-Site Good Guys

According to our research, the overall lowest risk to innocents and greatest lifesaving measure is already on-site armed good guys. On or off duty police cannot be everywhere. As professionals, we need to actively promote honest citizens, properly trained with firearms, pre-vetted, (criminal history check), and state certified through the CCW permit process, to carry concealed wherever legal. It would also make good sense to speak to business owners or persons in authority at facilities where CCW is unlawful unless-they-approve and give permission. No law, rule or sign forbidding CCW will stop entry by an evil person with murder on his mind. In fact, it is these same laws, rules or signs are like virtual magnets to active killers who much prefer locations with disarmed and defenseless innocents. These cowards do not intend to come to a fair-fight, they are murderers of the defenseless. They particularly target Schools, Colleges, Churches, Offices, Malls, Theaters, Hospitals, Etc. Any location that forbids honest pre-vetted and trained CCW citizens do not deserve your business. Our world has become more dangerous due to criminal Islamists, active killers and persons in authority who forbid armed citizens on their premises. Responsible citizens and persons in authority must work to change and meet this threat. Unarmed security personnel may be no different than the usual disarmed victims when random actor active killers or terrorists attempt mass murders. Remember: “When help is needed in seconds, off-site police are only minutes away”.   

Safer Workplaces

On the subject of already on-site armed good guys, our Stopwatch of Death^© database has always shown educational facilities as the number one target of active killers. It is possible that other research authorities may categorize schools as offices when they say the primary target of active killers is offices. In either event, they are both workplaces. As the world changes, what might have made sense in yesteryear, becomes foolish in a time when terrorist attacks are on the increase, and Rapid Mass Murder^© by active killers is still a persistent threat.  

Action Beats Reaction

Time and again citizens need to understand the factors between a suspicious person’s actions and officer’s reactions. Police deal with many circumstances that involve being quick or being dead. If officers delay too long, even if they were superman, the very best they could do in a deadly force encounter would be to TIE their adversary, risking death for both. But policemen are NOT Superman, which means if they wait too long to react, they lose a deadly force encounter and evil triumphs. Action ALWAYS beats reaction. ForceScience.org has done extensive research on this subject, and has helped save officer’s careers due to their objective research and testimony on the subject that could be helpful to your community. Our friend Larry Smith found and forwarded an excellent video both explaining and demonstrating the reality of reaction time and the OODA loop in police shootings as well as demonstrating the speed at which a threat can get off a shot while you are trying to decide whether they are armed. Many people doubt the logic behind police training. The demonstrator says he has attended many police funerals of officers who were killed by suspects bringing a firearm out of a vehicle. Consider capturing and saving this video for both citizen presentations and officer training. See resource video link: Why do Police sometimes shoot unarmed citizens? Larry also sent funny spoof videos on Star Wars Storm Troopers beginning with a Ft. Worth TX recruit video and automatic play of others. Speaking of action and reaction, our manager has authored an article PREPARING A HOME SAFE ROOM for a potential event such as HOME INVASION, published by Greg Ellifritz’s ActiveResponseTraining.net site. We were astonished at the far reaching response of our DoorBearade recommendation, KUDOS to Greg’s site. The DoorBearacade folks reported they could actually note all of their web site visitors coming to them directly from the article. Those visiting directly from the article came from across the country and include many corporations, residences, and even the US Department of Defense. For those that may be interested or want to share the link with others, click here.