Media Surprise

Armed Resistance Stops School Shooters

Media Surprised by findings

From WCPO.com (Channel 9 - Kentucky) comes this article, which finally acknowledges two important points gun owners and experts have been preaching about mass-shootings all along.

A fast, armed response is the best way to deal with mass murderers.

Even more amazing -- and our hats are off to the WCPO staff for verifying this -- they are recognizing that most of these killings take place in "gun free" zones - or "victim disarmament zones" as some call them.

WCPO cites studies by experts are Ron Borsch from SEALE Academy in Bedford, Ohio and John Benner from Tactical Defense Institute in Adams County, Ohio.

As many people know, law enforcement develops profiles of certain criminal types, including mass murderers. In the last 40 years, researchers have compiled the profile of the typical mass murderer, the type that walk into schools, post offices or their employer's offices to kill multiple people.

Law enforcement calls them "active shooters" or "active killers" because they are actively killing their victims when police are called and/or arrive on the scene.

According to the profile, these mass murderers seek to inflict as many casualties as quickly as possible and don't necessarily seek to escape right away. The profile also indicates most active killers have no intention of surviving the event. They select "soft targets" like shopping malls and schools precisely because they contain large numbers of defenseless victims with the virtual guarantee no one the scene one is armed.

And typically, as soon as they're confronted by any armed resistance, the shooters turn the gun on themselves.

The Columbine High School shootings in 1999 forced police to change their tactics. For this type of event, police officials found that it simply takes too long to assemble a tactical SWAT team in time to stop an active shooter.

New tactics were developed in which the first four or five patrol officers on the scene form an ad-hoc tactical team. They use a diamond formation, with guns pointed in all directions, as they enter the shooting scene. This technique was employed by police departments around the country.

Then, in April 2007, a lone gunman at Virginia Tech killed 32 people in the university's Norris Hall in just 11 minutes. That is three people killed and a total of four shot every minute. As predicted, the gunman continued shooting until a four-officer team made entry and then he killed himself.

Law Enforcement tactics change again

After reviewing Virginia Tech, the staff at top tactics training facilities determined the first officer on the scene should make entry immediately, with an aggressive attack on the shooter. In these incidents, time is of the essence. For every minute the officer waits for back-up, another three or more people could die.

“Time is our worst adversary in dealing with active killers,” says Borsch. “We’re racing what I call ‘the Stopwatch of Death.’ Victims are often added to the toll every several seconds.”

In other words, while it was once considered suicide for a lone officer to take on an active killer, it is now considered statistical homicide for him not to do so.

The other statistic that emerged is that "active shooters" almost exclusively seek out "gun free" zones for their attacks. Most states prohibit the carring of concealed firearms in schools and college campuses, even with a CCW permit. Many malls and workplaces also prohibit firearms by placing signs at their entrances.

Now some tacticians believe the signs themselves may be an invitation to the active killers.

WCPO received many questions about the killings taking place in gun-free zones, so they did their own analysis of mass murders in the U.S. What were their findings about these mass killings?

1. The vast majority occurred in schools or on college campuses where firearms are banned as a matter of state statutes.
2. Others took place in post offices where firearms are banned as a matter of federal law.
3. Most of the rest took place in shopping malls or other businesses where the owners posted signs prohibiting firearm possession by anyone including those with CCW permits.

Based on data from the SEALE study, an analysis by TDI, and WCPO's own research, WCPO said "we are able to say definitively that most 'active killer' shootings have occurred in so-called 'gun free' zones."

The experts who say they may be "invitations" are also John Benner and Ron Borsch who have six decades of law enforcement experience and training between them.

Borsch, who is a 17 year police veteran and a part-time SWAT team member before he retired from street work, analyzed more than 90 active-shooter incidents on the basis of data largely ferreted out from Internet reports. Most involved schools and colleges, but workplaces, shopping malls, churches and other public places are also represented.

Among his findings that have helped shape his tactical thinking:

• 98% of active killers act alone.
• 80% have long guns, 75% have multiple weapons (about 3 per incident), and they sometimes bring hundreds of extra rounds of ammunition to the shooting site.
• Despite such heavy armaments and an obsession with murder at close range, they have an average hit rate of less than 50%.
• They strike “stunned, defenseless innocents via surprise ambush. On a level playing field, the typical active killer would be a no-contest against anyone reasonably capable of defending themselves.”
• “They absolutely control life and death until they stop at their leisure or are stopped.” They do not take hostages, do not negotiate.
• They generally try to avoid police, do not hide or lie in wait for officers and “typically fold quickly upon armed confrontation.”
• 90% commit suicide on-site. “Surrender or escape attempts are unlikely.”

“They choose unarmed, defenseless innocents for a reason: They have no wish to encounter someone who can hurt them. They are personally risk- and pain-avoidant. The tracking history of these murderers has proved them to be unlikely to be aggressive with police. If pressed, they are more likely to kill themselves.” Borsh says.

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