Preparing for the worst

Aug. 30—AUSTINTOWN, Ohio — In the event of a mass shooting, ALICE instructor Chris Moffitt said potential targets have three possible reactions — fight, flight, and freeze.

As Moffitt addressed a group of about 20 human resources specialists, he explained how ALICE training, referring to Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate, can give ordinary people the skills to survive such a shooting, particularly by fighting or fleeing — but never freezing.

"You need to have that warrior mindset, the thinking that this is something you can survive," Moffitt said.

Moffitt, a patrol sergeant with Hubbard, Ohio, Police Department and co-owner of Training Specifics, gave the presentation Tuesday morning at Hollywood Gaming Austintown Racino in Austintown.

The event was organized by the Western Reserve Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, which has more than 150 members from Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties in Ohio.

A major component of ALICE training is finding ways to keep the potential shooter "hunting" instead of "killing," with techniques that can range from barricading doors to hiding or fleeing if the opportunity arises.

These actions make it more difficult for the shooter to find or access possible victims, giving police more time to respond and neutralize the shooter, Moffitt said.

A quick response by law enforcement is something Moffitt stresses when training police, and Moffitt didn't make excuses for the delayed police response during the May 24 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, despite having plenty of police officers available at the scene.

"At Uvalde, they had 400 officers there," Moffitt said.

The presentation included videos of previous shootings, including surveillance video from the 2000 Columbine high school shooting.

Although graphic, Moffitt said presenting the images was important to see how such shootings unfold and how to respond. In one clip, a group of students during the Columbine shooting hid underneath tables, only to be discovered by the shooters.

In another clip, a classroom demonstrated their "safety procedures," which involved to closing the window shades — something Moffitt said could hinder law enforcement, be quiet, and turn off the lights, in an attempt to signal a potential shooter that the classroom is empty.

This flawed training previously employed is why Moffitt said it's important not to blame or criticize the victims of past shootings for not taking more proactive action.

"I can't blame them because it's our fault," he said. "We didn't teach them differently."

However, schools aren't the only places to apply ALICE training, since any location — from hospitals to grocery stores to offices can become locations for a potential shooter.

In another example, a fired employee returned to their place of work with a bag of weapons. Although the employee broke into the building, security footage showed several other employees successfully subduing the attacker before the worst could happen.

Along with information and videos, Moffitt used a few hands-on activities to illustrate his points with the audience.

Using a blue dummy handgun made of plastic, Moffitt pretended to be an active shooter while the audience seated before him served as a "classroom." He then gave those in the audience tennis balls, meant to represent anything from books to bottles.

As he simulated an attack, the audience hurled the tennis balls at Moffitt, forcing him to cover his face and protect himself — temporarily preventing him from shooting while giving the "students" a chance to either follow with another attack or to flee.

In another activity, Moffitt again pretended to be a shooter but asked two members of the audience to pull him down with their body weight. And, after saying "What a good time to help" a few times, other audience members took the cue and piled on as well.

Although Moffitt handled the demonstrations with a bit of humor, he said that fighting an active shooter requires not only a physical response but the "warrior mindset."

"If you have to fight, then you need to go into it thinking 'you are not going to stop me, I'm going to do whatever it takes,'" he said.

Among those present for Tuesday's presentation was Greg Maras, vice president of human resources at Meadville Medical Center.

Maras said the hospital had previously received ALICE training for its employees, but added that it was important to stay up-to-date and recommended any entity or business to undergo ALICE training at some point.

Kathryn Samsa, a human resources manager at Tenaris, a manufacturer with multiple locations including Brookfield, Ohio, also attended the event.

She encouraged other businesses and entities to pursue ALICE training for their staff, and said she was interested in having Moffitt perform his presentation for Tenaris staff sometime in the future.

"It didn't just feel like a class because it keeps you engaged," Samsa said of the program.

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Like David L. Dye on Facebook or email him at ddye@sharonherald.com.