There was gunplay at the Walmart in Hobart, Indiana last night. Hobart would be a smallish town -- except it is embedded in the densely-packed cluster of cities and towns at the edge of Chicago. It's far enough away that the shooting stands out from the background level of Greater Chicago's violence.
The point I find of particular notability is not the shooting itself or the possible reasons for it, but the response: store employees had recently received active shooter training and acted on what they had learned, leading store patrons away from the danger.
Violence happens; while some people decry the need for such training, it is one of the few things that definitely makes a difference. Knowing what to do, even just thinking about what might happen before it happens, helps people make a better response to a terrible situation.
There have been no fatalities reported from the shooting so far.
The demographics of the area are no longer what they were when I was growing up near there when it was a peaceful town.
ReplyDeleteYes, I mean what you think.
Apparently the training worked. (I wish ours was more pro-active. Lots of talking about what 'could' be done to make classrooms safer, but nothing ever is because that costs money. Mostly it's just an annual "let's depress the instructors by making them watch a re-enactment of the Columbine shooting" thing.)
ReplyDeleteI KIND of know what I might do but I also know I am at risk of freezing in a real emergency.
You're a beacon, Roberta.
ReplyDelete