Being Attacked At Your Workplace

What should I do if a violent attack occurs in my workplace?

You certainly want to make yourself low. You certainly want to get yourself out of the line of fire. You certainly want to be able to put barriers between you and that person. Make yourself the smallest target as possible. If the person is coming at you and shooting, it's probably best that you're not stationary. You want to be moving. It's very difficult to hit a moving target. Unlike the movies, if you have a handgun, it's very difficult to hit someone who is moving. You move that barrel one degree, if that person is ten feet away from you, you're going to miss them by three feet. So be moving, I mean, try to get out of there. Don't just sit there and be a victim or just hope the person will pass you by. Again, I believe, and this is just for me, I would rather have the decisions in my hands rather than relying on some crazed person, whether they're going to be kind to me or whether they are going to pass me by. I would rather take the affirmative proactive steps and take my chances that way. I think you're better off.

What should I do if I am the target of a violent attack in my workplace?

If you are at work, at a place you wouldn't ordinary think that a violent person's going to come in and start shooting the place up, you're just totally ill-prepared. You haven't prepared yourself with escape routes, you haven't prepared yourself with defensive weapons, you haven't really thought through the process and scenarios, or "What would I do?" So, you're really down to your core instincts and what your reaction's going to be just based on the moment. That's kind of a scary thing, because you may or may not do the appropriate thing. However, if you know for sure that you're the target; if I knew that I was the target and the person's coming for me, I would not just lie back and just cower in the corner of the office, because I've taken away all my options. My only option is then is that the person will be merciful, and I don't want to rely on that. So, I'm going to take a more aggressive tactic. I'm going to try to get away. I may charge the person; try to take them down, disarm them, whatever, even with the risk of taking a couple of blows or taking a couple of shots. You at least have more options that way, because if you are successful, then you won't be injured. Or, you might be injured, but not as badly as you would otherwise.

Can I depend on building security to prevent a violent attack in my workplace?

The ordinary workplace is not set up to prevent an armed perpetrator from barging in and shooting up the building. The situation may be different if they have faced this situation before or if they are expecting such a situation to arise. In that case, they would probably have "early warning" systems, lockdown mechanisms and specialized training for the staff. Installing card or pin-code access is also something that is possible in order to decrease the level of unauthorized personnel.