Mass shooting in Colorado theater....

Let me make myself perfectly clear here:

I am not saying that no action at all should be taken. I agree that if someone with a CCW or someone who has reasonable abilities should feel more than free and happy to engage said person. What I AM saying, is that opening fire in a crowd, hoping to hit said gunman is reckless and moronic. Thinking that it is acceptable to risk the lives of others when you can not be certain that your actions would not result in a positive outcome is insane. How would you feel if someone did what you just advocated, and you had a 4 year old child that died because of what he did? You can not sit there and say that you would accept your own child dying as "collateral damage" to save others. I would freely give my own life, for example stepping in front of the gunman and attempt to disable/disarm him knowing full well that I could, and probably would die. But that child, that son or daughter of someone does not have that choice. You are taking that choice away from them, just as the gunman himself has taken that choice away. You want to get involved? Fine, step in front of him, or sneak behind him and take care of it that way. Don't advocate open fire in a CROWDED SMOKE FILLED ROOM.

Here is a very read situation that you should consider. Let us say there were 3 people who were CCW certified and trained. you are #3. #1 sees the shooter and draws, attempting to "take care" of the situation. #2 sees through the smoke, a man with a pistol in his hand, and reacts thinking "this is the gunman" so he shoots #1, you see (again in a TEARGAS FILLED ROOM THAT IS DARK) #2 with a pistol in his hand and firing....What's to say YOU don't end up shooting THIS guy? Are these people acceptable losses? I think if you say yes, then it is time you lay down your badge sir, before an innocent civilian gets killed by your actions. I have spent many years working with and around LEOs and I have NEVER heard a single one say anything about acceptable losses in a civilian situation. And yes, this was a civilian situation, not a freaking war.
It is horrible what has happened, and my heart goes out to those who were killed, injured, or affected by this. My prayers are with all of them.

 

see my post above, ...we can speculate all we want, but would never know how it may have played out... in a large theatre such as this, ...an armed citizen wouldn've been faced w/ a "fight" or "flight" decision, ..a lot of things could factor in, especially where he/she would've been situated w.r.t. the perp in the room... that is always a major factor, ...the reality is, armed citizens are not LEO, and thus do not have a duty to protect others, so "escape" is a considerable option depending on the circumstances...

 

this

 

WTF is wrong with people?

 

What kind of world do we live in when you have to remember to bring your gun and a flashlight to the movies!!!

 

The gunman also has his apartment booby-trapped w explosives he definitely had this all planned out

 

Choosing to do nothing is also a course of action. And sometimes, doing nothing is a better choice. Even when bad things are happening.

Too many variables to say what the right course of action should have been and I'm sure that we'll have hours of "expert" speculation to wade through in the coming days.

 

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/colorado-shooting-victim-survived-toronto-eaton-centre-shooting-1.886613

 

Dude.......cops don't punish people, they just enforce the law.

 

Wow that is horrible. To have survived one recent tragedy only to not survive another. This one kind of hit home on the gravity of the situation and the time we have in our short lives....

 

This event only proved to me that there is no reason to not carry a weapon with me at all times, when simply being at a movie can get you killed these days. There were armed police officers already in and around the building, and still 14 people died and 50 more were wounded. I'm not saying I would engage the attacker from the crowd, that will result in as much collateral damage as would have been done anyways, but I would have attempted to do something.

 

generally agree, ..but might add that being discriminate about "where" you spend your time also has significance... i.e. avoiding CPZs and "crowded theatres" (not just because of this event, but many others such as fire, etc.), etc... There are risks in everything we do, but we can takes steps to mitigate them...

 

tragic, but it happens all we can do is wonder why. in a wk or two unless we are directly effected we would have moved on to something else; prob Israel blowing up Iran idk
the world has some messed up people. always has always will

 

So you'd rather live in fear and cower in your home than go out and enjoy your life?

 

no, ...but i do wear my seatbelt while driving, always, and make sure my spare tire is full... my point is, enjoy your life, but be oblivious to danger at your own peril... like i said before, most americans spend their entire day/week/years/life in "condition white" (i.e. it won't happen to me), ...well, reality bites...

 

Maybe you misunderstand my point. I am not the one who is advocating shooting into a crowded theatre. I agree that a lot of factors are in play, hence my prior posts. I agree that in many situations the "flight" option can be the best one. I am mostly referring to the comments from those who actually advocate opening fire into a crowd in the hopes that your skill would take out the bad guy. Insanity at it's best.

 

Wait... no news report has stated (as of yet) that there were police already on site. The Aurora police dept. building is less then a mile away from this theater which explained the quick response. Even if there were armed guards or police on site there are 16 theaters in the plex. The gunman came in from the emergency exit to theater #9. It would take some time for the guards/police to react and find which theater he was in. Then you have panicked people coming out the tunnel away from the shooter. The injured and lost could have easily occurred in less then a minute.

Hell there was international press on the scene before I woke up this morning. Shit happens fast although I am sure if I was in there it would have seemed like an eternity.

 

^^^^^^THIS,,, Always been that way always will be^^^^^^

 

yes, i understand... i was just pointing out that the "firing into a crowd" probably wouldn't have been a guteral reaction taken by an armed citizen (as some had inferred), but that in a large, dimly lit, enclosed (and chaotic) space like that, escape would've likely been a smart approach...