Safety Advisory: What to Do if You're Somewhere and You See a Person
or people carrying semi-auto weapons:
Call 911! You have no competence to judge whether such people are simply "exercising their 2nd Amendment rights" or whether they're the next mass shooter(s) who will generate some horrific national media coverage. You simply do not know, and cannot be expected to know. Don't assume anything. Let the authorities sort it out.
You've seen the posters: "If You See Something, Say Something!" There's a reason for those posters. Make the call.
When you call:
Stay calm.
When the operator asks, "What is your emergency?" say, "I'm at {location} and there {is a man} {are men} carrying {a military-style rifle} {military-style rifles} walking around. I don't know why they're doing that and I'm very concerned."
The operator will ask for your name. Say your name. Nobody will share your name with the gun-toters.
Say, "I'm very concerned that this could be a dangerous situation and I'm worried about a mass shooting happening here."
The operator will ask exactly where you are at the location. Describe it as clearly as you can. An aisle number or some other identifiable landmark. The operator will suggest that you move to a safer location. Do so. If you are asked to stay on the phone, stay on the phone. The operator may ask you other questions. Answer completely and calmly.
If you make the call in that way, they will dispatch a unit to the location. They have to. You're not hysterical, and you've provided accurate information and identified yourself. They have no choice, because they don't know the intent of the armed people either. The police will arrive, locate the armed individuals and find out what their intent is. They have to. They're not going to blow off your call, because it is recorded. They're not going to take a chance that some mass shooting will occur and it is discovered that they didn't respond. They will come and investigate your report.
The result will be that you will have done the right thing. The owners of that location will not be happy that the police came and disrupted business. That will help them make a no firearms policy for their location.
And that will be the end of your participation, in all probability. You won't be contacted further. Everything will be resolved by the police officers who respond, one way or another. If the people with the firearms mean no harm, they will be free to go on their way, if they are breaking no laws.
= new reply since forum marked as read
