Homeland Security Provides Safety Tips Following Colorado Theater Shooting

Friday, July 20, 2012 at 4:23 PM

The shooting at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado is being called the largest mass shooting in U.S. history. Ohio Homeland Security says Ohioans need to know what to do if they are ever in the vicinity of an active mass shooter. Anne Ralston is with the Ohio Highway Patrol.

RALSTON:  “Always have an escape route in mind. You can evacuate as quickly as possible. If you are in an office or something like that, you can hide out. And as a last resort, if you need to, and only if your life is in imminent danger, you should take action to incapacitate the shooter.”

INGLES:  “And you should call 9-1-1 as soon as you can if you can. But eventually the law enforcement authorities will get there and when they do, there are some precautions you should take at that time as well, right?”

RALSTON:  “Absolutely. One of the main things is, given the tense situation, remain calm and follow instructions. Put down anything you have in your hands and try to keep your hands visible at all times. And just try to stay in control. Avoid screaming and yelling and deal with the situation as calmly as you can.”

INGLES:  “Now if you are trying to get a hold of police or if you are trying to provide a good desciprition to police afterwards of what happened, what kind of information should you be providing? What should you look for?”

RALSTON:  Look for where the location of the shooter was. Maybe the number of shooters – how many people did you see? A physical description of the shooter or shooters. What kind of clothing were they wearing? The number or type of weapons they might have if you can take note of that, even if it’s just very general – was it a long gun or just a hand gun? And possibly the number of victims at a location. But you should never put yourself in danger to get that information, but if you should happen to see it, keep that in mind and report it to 9-1-1.”

INGLES:  “How often do we see public shooters like this? Is this a pretty rare thing?”

RALSTON:  “To be honest with you, Jo, I think we have experienced it here in Ohio during the Chardon school shooting. We know it does happen. Unfortunately, one instance is one too many. That’s why it’s important that we prepare ourselves. Have a plan in mind in the event that something bad would happen. And if you mentally prepare and one of these horrible incidences does happen, you can hopefully get out of that safely.”

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