“Immediate de-animation” critical in some situations…active shooter calls among them

August 05, 2005 08:26 AM •

Are you prepared?

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) recently pinpointed head shots as a preferred method for dealing with suicide bombers, highlighting the need for what firearms expert John Farnham calls “immediate de-animation” in certain crisis situations.

Among those situations are “Active Shooter” calls - events where a gunman is actively in the process of firing at people during your response. So serious are these live-fire incidents, well-known survival instructor Gary Klugiewicz and prominent police trainer Chuck Remsberg, developed an intense block of instruction called “Responding to Active Shooters” as part of a training class Klugiewicz conducted.

When a gunman is actively in the process of shooting people or someone has the immediate capability of triggering a blast, Farnham says the instantaneous cessation of all subject movement is your ideal goal. A head shot, he points out, allows a round to directly enter the brain and increases your odds of achieving that goal as opposed to the typical rounds to center mass.

In light of this, you the officer have new responsibilities, indicates Klugiewicz.

“First,” he says, “you need to be physically prepared as a marksman to execute a headshot with whatever firearm you have, be that a sidearm, a shotgun, or a tactical rifle. During range drills you need to be sure that headshots are included in your regime.

“Second, you need to be mentally prepared to execute a headshot. I discuss this in my seminar and find it to be a bigger challenge for officers than some might imagine. Head shots are considered ‘unconventional’ and therefore officers tend to considered them universally ‘unacceptable.’ In a situation where every second can mean the loss of more innocent lives, it’s your responsibility to do whatever it takes to bring that situation to a screeching halt. Drastic situations require drastic measures. Be prepared for that.”

Related tactical tip: Target training to respond to an active shooter

Scott Buhrmaster

Scott Buhrmaster is the CEO of Calibre Press, one of the leading law enforcement training and information providers in the industry. Scott’s 30-year tenure began in 1989 when he originally signed on with Calibre where he was involved in the creation and marketing of the organization’s popular training courses and award-winning textbooks, videos and online publications.

In 1999, Scott launched The Buhrmaster Group, an organization focused on helping law enforcement training companies develop, market and expand their training efforts. Among his clients was Police1.com, which he signed on with full time as their vice president of training and editorial. During that period, Scott was named to the National Advisory Board of the Force Science Institute, at the time a newly developing organization which was also among his list of clients. Following a seven-year tenure at Police1, Scott signed on with Force Science full-time, initially serving as their vice president of operations and most recently serving as their COO.

Scott has been a long-time contributor to Police1 and has written extensively for other publications and Web sites in the law enforcement market. Additionally, he helped launch two of the most popular e-newsletters in the industry; the Street Survival Newsline and Force Science News. While at Police1, Scott served as the publisher of Police Marksman magazine and a contributing editor for Law Officer magazine.