Staying Safe In Open Space Gatherings — What You Need to Know

Summer and fall are full of open-space events: concerts, air shows, sporting events, festivals, fairs, and a multitude of other events where we gather to celebrate, participate, or be entertained.

Federal agency statistics

FBI statistics show that the number of active shooter incidents in open spaces has continually risen over the past four years.

The United States Secret Service publishes reports on ‘Mass Attacks in Open Spaces,’ and CISA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency within DHS, publishes a resource guide for open spaces and mass gatherings. So, what are some of the key points to know to keep yourself safe at open space events?

Crowd Behavior

Let’s first look at what typically happens. We saw this most recently in images from the attempted assassination of former President Trump. The crowd’s reaction to gunfire was consistent: some people reacted and moved to flee, many bent down, and others just stood there. We saw the same reactions throughout the crowd in the Mandalay Bay shooting in Las Vegas in 2017.

These images are stark reminders that we need to be proactive. We need to have a plan in place to get off the “X” before an incident occurs.

The physiological reaction of fight, flight, or freeze is absolutely real. Having a plan in advance allows you to move straight past freeze and directly into fight or flight.

What is the first and best option? When faced with a threat – not being there is the best option. Your goal is to put distance between you and the threat.

Situational Awareness and intuition are key aspects of your planning. Both of these might keep you away from where there is a threat.

Mindset

Our mindset is key to taking action – specifically decisive action – when presented with a threat. Former FBI Hostage Rescue Team member Greg Shaffer says: “Survival is a mindset, not a skillset.”

Though not as concise as Greg’s phrasing, I like to discuss this in terms of these four tenets:

            Knowledge enables Preparedness.

            Preparedness encourages Awareness.

            Preparedness and Awareness build Confidence.

            Confidence enables Decisiveness.

A Plan

So, what does “having a plan“ entail? We have talked about Run, Hide, Fight for decades now. If we don’t put substance behind each of those elements, they don’t really help us at all. So here are the key things to incorporate into your open space event plan:

Egress points – Where are the exits?  Find several.

Egress paths – What are your best and quickest paths to the exits?

Resources – What do you have with you? How can you use it? Find venue resources.

Event Map– Have a map of the event layout in your mind and on your phone.

Cover – Look around for cover – anything that will stop bullets.

Concealment– Find what you can hide behind.

Your Placement– If you have the option, position yourself with all this in mind.

It’s a Family Discussion

This discussion should involve your significant other, your family, your coworkers, your friends, and anyone else you might be attending one of these events with. We all share an equal responsibility to keep ourselves as safe as we can.

I touched on resources earlier. Discuss your everyday carry or ‘EDC‘ in terms of these events. Now, I am not talking about your freedom seed dispenser – though if you are reading this, you should always be armed.

What I’m talking about for EDC is a simple list of five things:

• A reliable and powerful flashlight.
• A tourniquet and a compression bandage.
• A tactical pen.
• A positive mindset. 

Many venues restrict what you can bring into them. We’ve all seen guidelines about no backpacks or clear backpacks, along with signs that say no glass bottles or weapons of any kind.

Your Responsibility

Even so, it is incumbent upon us not to simply hand over our share of responsibility for keeping ourselves safe. I recently attended an event where some weapon detection technology was in place at the entrance. Due to the volume of the crowd that was arriving, a significant portion of the crowd was simply guided around the weapons detection stations to facilitate getting into the show. This made it abundantly clear to me that there was absolutely zero screening of a large portion of the crowd of several tens of thousands.

Decisions, Decisions

As human beings, we at least try to make the best decisions. If you’re confronted with an incident or a threat in an open space, you are not looking to make a perfect decision. You are looking to make a decision RIGHT NOW. Having a plan in advance gives you the ability to make a relatively immediate decision and take decisive action. The likelihood that decisive action taken immediately will be successful is exponentially higher than a decision made a minute or more later. Time is of the essence, and indecision can be fatal.

Put it All Together and Enjoy the Show

When you’re attending events, look around and identify ways to get out in an emergency. Observe and understand what those exit routes look like. Identify locations that ideally offer cover, or at the very least, concealment.

Base your plan on that information. Know what resources you have with you. Identify emergency resources at the venue. Once you have that firmly locked in, change gears to focus on Awareness. Pay attention to aggressive behavior and developing arguments or confrontations. Those are all great places not to be.

Look at the crowd. Look at people who are behaving differently than the rest of the crowd. Look for things that stick out. We can’t watch everything all the time, so the cheat code is to look for the exceptions – the abnormal behavior.

About the Author:

Glenn Norling is a retired FBI Special Agent and currently serves as the Executive Director of the Active Shooter Prevention Project, the premier active shooter prevention solution and education company dedicated to enacting the first national standard to prevent and survive an active shooter event. (www.aspppro.com)

Glenn is a certified FBI crisis manager, an FBI instructor, and FBI adjunct faculty. During his 20-year career, he was a field investigator and supervisor, and a supervisor at the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group in Quantico, VA. 

Prior to the FBI, Glenn served ten years in the United States Air Force as an acquisition program manager.

Glenn holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and a master’s degree in organizational management. He is a proud Eagle Scout, and Gunsite graduate.