I was initially hesitant to comment on the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others by Jared Loughner.
The intersection of insanity and dread purpose that resulted in the murder of six people, including a nine-year-old girl, was destined from the moment it happened to be a political and social firestorm.
Blame is flying far and freely, with the bulk of the discourse being meaningless to any kind of discussion we could have here.
But most of all I didn’t want to get involved in any “Monday morning quarterbacking” with the whole woulda-coulda-shoulda nonsense that entails.
So I’m not doing any of that.
What I want to do instead is highlight the actions of those who changed everything that day… the ones who acted to take down the gunman and removed his ability to do further harm.
These people “pushed through the invisible membrane” as my friend Derrick, a Marine and Navy veteran and medical doctor, likes to say. They experienced the “oh shit” moment and had the choice to observe, run or act on the threat.
They chose to go for it and separated the operator from his tool, preventing him from reloading and killing more people. (Reports say he brought three extra magazines with him, so he was prepared to do far more than he did.)
They were, I think you’ll agree, not the most likely people for the task:
- Bill Badger, 74
- Roger Salzgeber, 61
- Patricia Maisch, 61
But they were the ones who were there.
You can read about, and see videos of, their stories here:
Heroes of Tucson Shooting: ‘Something Had to Be Done’
This is why we train, and what we train for. Not for competition, or a bar fight, or the intractable social pissing match.
We train for the true outliers, the thankfully rare — but deadly — situation where direct action can make all the difference.
We train because it’s much easier for the brain to go
where it’s been before.
If you put yourself in that situation ahead of time, thinking about it, practicing physically how you want it to go with another person, you grease the pathway to action instead of leaving it up to chance and instinct.
This is why we spend the better part of the second morning of every 2-day seminar practicing injuring people who are holding firearms – to make that the most likely course of action over observing, shocked, from behind the “invisible membrane.”
Luckily for everyone involved, when it came down to it Bill, Roger, and Patricia (& others who provided first aid to the fallen) pushed through and took direct action.
I wish the same for myself… and that is why I train.
-Chris Ranck-Buhr
Now, I hate to nit pick, but since you are a professional trainer, I cannot resist.
The shooter used a Glock. He could have had a thousand loaded “clips” in his pocket and he would have never been able to reload the Glock with any of those “clips”. Surly you know this????? Hopefully, you do not use this term in your classes.
Chuck in Tucson
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I think of these situations from my days in sports back in the day… “If that ball comes to me now, what is my first play?”
For me, it’s all about situational awareness, good mental preparedness, and excellent prior teaching and practice, as you teach!
Stay safe -
Chip
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I do understand the decorum of withholding blame from one who might have reacted differently had they been TRAINED.
Yet it absolutely BEGS DISCUSSION nonetheless, as TRAINING
IS PRECISELY WHY WE ARE HERE IN THIS FORUM, now if only to ANALYZE WHAT HAPPEPENED, & WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED BETTER had one or more respondents TRAINED for a proper response.
To be sure, there’s no blame here but the shooter. Yet the TRAINED reaction of the very first respondent (the Judge)
COULD very well have prevented ANY deaths from occurring.
Had the first respondent reacted as a TRAINED respondent,
the Judge would have rushed the shooter directly, perhaps
knocking the weapon to the ground while tackling shooter.
It behooves us to do EVERYTHING we can to MINIMIZE damages
as soon as the danger is recognized; covering another body
instead of tackling the shooter was indeed fatal mistake.
THAT is why we TRAIN FOR THE POTENTIALLY FATAL ENCOUNTER:
a) to KEEP FROM FREEZING IN THE FACE OF MORTAL DANGER
b) to KEEP FROM RUNNING AWAY IN THE FACE OF MORTAL DANGER
c) to KEEP FROM ACTING INCORRECTLY FACED WITH MORTAL DANGER
It is clear in this sad incident the Judge was not TRAINED.
HAD HE BEEN TRAINED, HE WOULD HAVE SIDE-SWIPED THE SHOOTER,
& early enough into the event to reduce deaths & injuries.
This is NOT second-guessing, Chris. Analysis IS TRAINING.
Always Vigil,
Harley R, Holland
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