Event Security After Las Vegas Shootings

Experts Talk About Event Security After Las Vegas Shootings

By: Jessica Gill, WOWT Channel 6

 

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) — The horrific events in Las Vegas Sunday have many people wondering how they’ll ever feel safe again in large groups or out in public. Experts says it starts with being aware of your surroundings and accepting the fact that sometimes, bad things happen.

Kurt Sorys, a 32 year veteran of the Omaha Police Department and Director of Training at Tactical 88, says it starts with asking yourself a few simple questions.

“If I had to get out of here, quickly, where would I go? If I had to hide, where would I hide,” he said.

It’s something he stresses in all of his safety classes—no matter where you go. Look around. Be aware.

“When you go to a concert, everybody’s looking at the performer, on stage, if you happen to look around, and you notice that somebody is not paying any attention to the stage and is simply scanning the crowd, themselves, that would be someone to be aware of,” said Sorys.

He says Sunday’s Vegas shooting was a unique situation, but Sorys says we can learn a few things from the footage.

“You have a lot of people that are yelling for everyone to get down on the ground,” he said. “Now, traditionally, that might be OK, if the suspect is on the same level. But in this particular incident, it didn’t do them any good. They’re just lower to the ground, but he can still see them, and it didn’t help them out, at all.”

Even though no one knew where the gunfire was coming from he says you should run and drop anything that might slow you down.

“If you looked at the footage from Vegas, you’ll notice a lot of people fleeing for their lives, still running with beer cans in their hands.”

Running can be difficult in certain clothing and shoes.

“I’m a big proponent of having shoes on that I can run in, if necessary,” said Sorys.

Last but not least – “Don’t be in denial. So many people when they hear gunshots say ‘well that just doesn’t happen all that often.’ So, if we assume when we hear that it’s gunshots, and it turns out to be firecrackers, that’s OK. We may have gone into action, and we didn’t need to. We can certainly survive that.”

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