Category: Active Violence Response

This category addresses the scourge of active violence and what we can do about it.

Home › Archive for Active Violence Response

This discussion contains case studies of both Cleveland Elementary School attacks in California, as well as general information about school killing sprees. Statistics are of limited value when analyzing the growing threat, as each killer conducts internet research and tries different things, reaching for the fame and recognition the media bestows upon the perpetrator of the latest record-high body count. But long, painstaking, and quite frankly painful analysis has revealed trends we can use for planning. We share some of those with you here. We also offer suggestions for drilling younger students to take cover in a nonthreatening, age-appropriate manner.

Read more →

One situation where a pistol mounted light might be very useful is counterattacking an active shooter–without hitting innocents–in a theater. Unless you get paid to stick your nose in other people’s business, you most likely will never need a PML. But then, you most likely will never need a pistol at all. With any life insurance, we’re not gambling on the odds; we’re banking on the possibilities. Here are some whys and wherefores for pistol mounted lights.

Read more →

This article first appeared in the July, 2024 electronic edition of Dillon Precision’s Blue Press. ICSAVE, Integrated Community Solutions to Active Violence Events, is a genuinely not-for-profit non-profit (some “non-profits” aren’t, really) that educates the public, police, fire, and EMS how to minimize loss of life during mass casualty incidents.

Read more →

In tactical medicine, we talk about the “hot zone, the warm zone, and the cold zone.” We make those distinctions to differentiate what kind of care we should be giving under which conditions. But its critical to realize that what’s cold and what’s hot changes rapidly in dynamic active violence events. There really is no such thing as a permanently cold zone.
For many years fire departments pushed back against any kind of tactical training. They had no problem running into burning buildings, but one bozo with a .22 anywhere in a 100 acre complex was “too dangerous.” This article gives the lie to the notion that EMS personnel can continue to operate without at least rudimentary tactical training.

Read more →

This is about some very specific types of movement: specifically, those when contact with an armed adversary is anticipated or likely. While avoiding or breaking contact is preferred, there are times when neither of those are possible. Knowing proper movement techniques can keep you alive.

Read more →

“Point” and “area” targets are military concepts that are directly applicable to active violence and counterterrorism. You should know more than just the difference between them, which is not rocket science. You should know how to avoid having a target on your back, be it the point or area variety. Some of this article was excerpted from a password protected summary of a site security survey I conducted at a high school in Arizona.

Read more →

Angela McQueen wrestled a gun out of a wannabe killer’s hands in her high school cafeteria, most likely saving many lives. On 04 Nov 2022, I had the honor and privilege of interviewing Ms. McQueen where the incident took place, at Mattoon High School in Mattoon, IL.

Read more →

There is a misconception out there about the so-called “average” gunfight, that is often quoted as if it were Gospel. Sadly, many store clerks who perpetuate this lie, while selling new shooters guns that are hard to hold, hard to manipulate, and hard to hit with, actually believe The Lie.

Read more →