by Chris Cerino
Chris Cerino
Ever hear of the “Zombie Apocalypse”? “They” say it’s coming but I don’t know who “they” are. It seems like EVERYONE! People are buying guns and ammunition at a rate higher than ever. They say, in good fun, for the “Zombie Apocalypse.” People are also training more than ever so they can put those guns and ammunition to good use. Probably for the same reason: “zombies!” Whether you are stocking up on training and gear for World War 3 or World War “Z” you’re doing it with the intention of being prepared I’m sure. Training is great fun and, when done properly, can save your life or the lives of others.
Seriously, there are a multitude of situations you could find yourself in as an armed citizen these days. Think about all of the active murder situations occurring lately. Right in the public’s eye! Not just in schools anymore; we are seeing shootings happen in a variety of public places. Just in the past few months, here in Ohio, we’ve had two shootings completely outside the norms. First, the Chardon High School shooting in February, started in the school’s cafeteria but, unlike most active shooters, the shooter failed to kill himself. Instead, he left the building and attempted to avoid capture. Luckily the police caught him before he managed to run into another potential victim. How do you suppose you would have reacted if you had run into him? Whether you were in your car stopped in traffic or just walking in a nearby neighborhood, were you trained to handle the encounter?
Move forward from Chardon in February to April 12 in Brooklyn, OH: the Cracker Barrel Restaurant shooting. Here again, a shooter intent on killing more than one person, in front of God and everyone, shoots his wife and two daughters. The wife and one daughter died at the scene. The murderer, their estranged spouse and father, refused to surrender. Here again the suspect refusing to surrender was found by police and challenged but, he was ultimately killed by them. I believe we are past the days of the active shooter harming as many people as possible then killing themselves to avoid prosecution.
Were these two killers “zombies?”
Actually, they were, very much so. They had the drive to kill showing no fear of their victims, citizen intervention or police apprehension. They did what they came to do and then moved on. Until lately, most active shooters have chosen to kill themselves after committing their crimes in an apparent attempt to avoid the consequences. Those days are seemingly gone. The shift from murder/suicide seemed to start with the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords by Jared Loughner. He too, shot multiple victims and failed to turn the gun on himself.
Chris Cerino is a nationally known firearms instructor who has been training law enforcement officers and military for more than 10 years. He has worked in law enforcement positions for municipal, county, state and federal agencies spanning 19 years. You can email him at: chris@cerinotraining- group.com
We are seeing a trend change that should affect how we look at training and armed preparedness. Gunfights are not just between police and the bad guys anymore. They are no longer low round count, quickly ended, close in engagements. The streets contain zombies/miscreants who want to make a name for themselves by going on a rampage to beat the last publicized rampage. Number of rounds fired, weapon choice, times overall, locations and victims have all changed. It’s not just robbery anymore. It’s murder!
If you had stumbled upon the Chardon school shooter, running from the school with a gun, would you have known what to do? Would you have been prepared? Would you have had a gun, enough ammunition and the training to either challenge, kill or avoid that focused killer?
If you were eating in the Cracker Barrel, when murderer Kevin Allen came in, with a shotgun to kill his wife and daughters, would you have been prepared? Could you have stopped the violence with a challenge or well placed shot?
Training for situations like these comes in two forms: physical preparation and visual or mental preparation. To increase your chances of success you need to do both.
Physical preparation includes all things, from practicing the fundamentals of marksmanship and weapons handling skills, to the tactical aspects of shooting on the move, shooting from cover and reloading skills.
Training will increase your knowledge base as well. Simple things like knowing what is cover, when to challenge a criminal or when to just shut up and shoot. What to do with any family who are near you when the incident occurs, pros and cons, shooting over cover or around cover, stealthy movements or draws and more. There’s so much to know and be aware of.
The mental preparation and training should start with “when/then” thinking as opposed to the archaic “if/then” thinking. Being caught off guard is bad enough, but if you “expect” it to happen, you will be best prepared. It does not make you a kook or crazy to have a “when/then” mindset. You’ll be the one who isn’t totally surprised when the fecal matter hits the fan. Never underestimate the power of visualization. Major league sports players use it all the time, studies have been done by some of the finest researchers and vizualization has been proven to increase performance. Visualize success and it will happen. Combined mental preparation with solid physical training, or “when/then” thinking, can cause you to have shorter and more positive reaction times in “tense, uncertain or rapidly evolving situations.” (Graham v. Connor 490 US 386 (1989).
I’d like to think that if I had been walking past the Chardon School that day or if I had been eating at the Cracker Barrel that night or if I were in line to see Congresswoman Giffords, any one of those incidents would have turned out differently and for the better.
Remember, when poop happens you won’t rise to the occasion, you will default to the level of your training. Be prepared because when “zombies” come, they won’t be covered in blood and dragging a leg behind them. They will look just like you or I. Men, women, boys, girls, young or old. You won’t overtly see their zombie-like intentions, you’ll have to wait until they expose themselves.
