Constable teaches Civilian Response to Shooter Events

Precinct 4 Constable Ron Hood hosted a 2-hour session aimed at teaching civilians how to respond in an active shooting event in the Dripping Springs High School Auditorium, last Tuesday. 

The class, called “Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events” (CRASE), was part of an ongoing outreach by both Hays County Constable Offices, and the Hays County Sheriff’s Office to educate civilians on survival skills should they ever find themselves in a situation with an active shooter.

“I’m going to take you to some dark places tonight in an effort to get you thinking about how you should react to such an event,” Constable Ron Hood said. “In other countries where street shootings are more common, the people there are quicker to react because they know what’s happening and accept it. Here [in the United States] we go through a period of denial and then assessment. This slows down our reaction time and lessens our chance of survival. By thinking about the situation now, and giving you some survival strategies, I hope to quicken your reaction time should you ever find yourself in such a situation.”

CRASE is based on Advance Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALLERT), which was a response to the Columbine High School Incident in 1999. During that shooting incident, it took 45 minutes for an ad-hoc SWAT team to go inside the school. With ALLERT, the intent is for immediate entry into the building by law enforcement. CRASE is intended to coordinate with ALLERT as a community outreach, to train civilians as to how protect themselves in such a situation. ALLERT was started by the San Marcos Police Department, Texas State University, and the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, with a grant from the Texas Governor’s office. ALLERT has since been taught extensively throughout the country to law enforcement.

“On average it takes three minutes for law enforcement to respond to an active shooter event, unfortunately, it can often take an additional two, three, five minutes before we’re called,” Hood said. “What you do during those minutes is crucial.”

As a survival strategy during those crucial three minutes, Constable Hood taught the acronym ADD, which stands for Avoid, Deny, and Defend. “ADD is basically what we tell civilians to do in a shooting situation, while they wait for the police to arrive,” Hood said. “Because there wasn’t going to be any more of this 45-minutes delay like at Columbine. If there are shots actively being fired when the first police officer arrives, then we train that first officer to go in by himself. If he arrives and there are no shots being fired, then he may wait for a second or third officer to arrive before they jointly enter the building or situation.”

“That leads me to the first word in ADD—Avoid.  If you think you heard gunfire, or something that could have been gun fire, don’t deliberate, don’t delay, get out of the building and call 911. As you leave the building urge others to leave the building with you,” Hood said.

Hood explained human beings have a pack mentality.  In the presentation Hood gave video examples of people submitting to group think and not responding to an event because they saw no one else responding. “We [law enforcement] would much rather be called to a false alarm, than to be delayed in real situation,” Hood said.

The second word in ADD is Deny. “If you can’t run away and escape, the next step is to try to deny the shooter access to your location by locking or barricading the door. Also turn off the lights, and hide out of sight so that the shooter believes your location to be empty,” Hood said.

In Deny, Hood emphasized the difference between cover and concealment. Concealment is the use of something to visually hide a person from a shooter, while cover is hiding behind an object that could actually stop a round.

Finally, if Avoid and Deny fail, Defend is the third action.  “Please remember that you have a legal and moral right to defend yourself.  And don’t fight fair. Use any tool at your disposal. Hit them hard, be aggressive. The weak spots are the eyes, groin, neck. Best time to hit an attacker is when they first enter the room. Attack as a group. If you have a license to carry, then use it.  If you have baseball bat or something similar use it,” Hood said. “Remember ADD is for the 3 minutes we spoke about.”

The presentation also had a segment that explained how cognitive skills and motor skills deteriorated due to stress. Hood showed 5 categories ranging from condition white at a normal 60 to 90 bpm (heartbeats-per-minute), to what he called condition black at 175 bpm. In one of the real life video clips shown, a mother struggled to unstrap her child from a baby seat as she hears gunshots being fired inside the store. “How many times do you think she has undone those baby straps, probably a hundred times. Yet in this situation, she has extreme difficulty undoing the straps. That’s an example on how badly your affected. Also, at an extreme 175 bpm, the cognitive process almost shuts down,” Hood said. He stressed that this was something that applied not only to the civilian caught in a deadly situation, but also to the police officers responding.

“Remember that the police officers responding is human as well, and very nervous.  So, do whatever the police officer tells you to do. Above all show him your hands. We are trained to look at your hands.  Also, if you have a license to carry, don’t run around with the gun in your hand. The officers have no way of knowing who you are. Remember the police officer’s heartbeat will be just as accelerated as yours,” Hood said. “So when the police arrive, follow their commands, show your palms, do not move.”

Future CRASE class dates will be announced as they become available.

The CRASE presentation is available to individuals, civilian groups, including schools, businesses, civic organizations, faith-based organizations, or others.  Please note that this presentation includes video and audio from previous active shooter events, and though not graphic may not be suitable for everyone.

Organizations or individuals interested in scheduling a CRASE presentation should contact Precinct 4 Constable Ron Hood at (512) 858-7605.