"Terrified shoppers went on their knees and begged him not to kill them"

[dalton99a]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/07/us/el-paso-shooting-survivor-speaks/index.html

As a gunman roamed through Walmart, shoppers prayed and begged him not to kill them, a survivor says
By Faith Karimi, CNN
Updated 6:07 AM ET, Wed August 7, 2019

(CNN) Christopher Grant was in the Walmart produce section when gunfire rattled. It was about 10:30 a.m. on a Saturday -- with parents and carefree children searching the aisles for back-to-school bargains.

But on this morning, a man in khakis brandishing a gun roamed the store in El Paso after opening fire in the parking lot, leaving bullet casings and blood scattered all over.

Terrified shoppers went on their knees and begged him not to kill them when he turned his weapon in their direction, Grant said. By the time the rampage was over, the gunman had fatally shot 22 people and left two dozen injured, police said.

"People were praying in Spanish, 'Por favor, no. No, por favor,'" Grant said. "They were on the ground and he still just shot them in the head. They were praying ... 'Please, please, don't shoot me.' He had no remorse for their lives at all."

To deter the gunman, Grant tossed bottles at him. One hurtled in the shooter's direction, making him turn toward Grant and fire rounds.

"I was like, oh my God, this guy is shooting at me," Grant told CNN's Chris Cuomo from his hospital bed. He tried to duck but a bullet struck him in the back. As he lay on the floor bleeding, he watched the shooter walking among people praying in Spanish, begging for their lives.

Then he fled to the auto department as the gunman headed toward the bank near the store's restroom and kept firing.

"I could just tell he was prepared," Grant said.

[cynatnite]

1. Someone on TV said he went after some children who ran to the bakery dept...

He was yelling that he would find them.

[underpants]

2. Horrible

Any idea how long this went on for? I’ve been looking but I haven’t been able to find it.

Dayton was 36 seconds. The Garlic festival was less than a minute too.

[dalton99a]

3. Wikipedia says six minutes

10:39 - 10:45 a.m MST (evidently when he ran out of ammo)

[underpants]

5. Thanks

[CatMor]

4. Reading this brings me to tears ...

I can only imagine the fear the innocent people went through.

[PandoraAwakened]

6. Never beg a shooter

God forbid anyone reading this might ever find themselves in such a horrific situation. But if you do, at all costs, do not beg a shooter for your life. Study after study on this indicates the surest way to get shot is to ask the shooter to not shoot you. I don't know why this is so; I just know this is what terrorism experts and hostage negotiators say.

So, I guess the deal is if that is the point you find yourself at in an active shooter situation, i.e. face-to-face, with run & / or hide no longer open as options, then fight. It's all that's left. The man who threw bottles got shot, but he opened up a brief window to run away and survive. He did not die from a bullet to his head fruitlessly begging for his life.

Honestly, I can't help but think that most of these killers would not anticipate, for example, an older man or woman who they expect to be kneeling, crying, & begging to suddenly dive for their knees to send them off balance, perhaps giving others the opportunity and spontaneous motivation to pile on.

I don't know, thoughts?

(And, yes, I know, easy enough to armchair speculate from the sidelines, but for my family it's more than that. I still have kids in school and, although it angers me deeply that I should even have to do this, six lockdowns last school year alone has forced the recurring conversation in our household about what to do.)

[durablend]

7. So Pence was wrong again?

Quelle surprise...