Theater Shooting Interview by Chris Grollnek

Theater Shooting Interview by Chris Grollnek

Expert: Training, not laws, needed after theater shooting

VISIT our home page: www.activeshooterexpert.com

Theater Shooting Interview by Chris Grollnek

In the wake of the fatal shooting at a Louisiana movie theater Thursday night, one expert advised that the key to avoiding mass shooting casualties is training and preparation, not new laws and regulations.

“If laws were able to stop these things, we wouldn’t need police,” said Chris Grollnek, a former Marine and police SWAT team member.

Police said Friday that 59-year-old John Russel Houser, who they described as a “drifter” from Alabama, stood up 20 minutes into a screening of the Amy Schumer comedy “Trainwreck” at the Grand 16 theater in Lafayette and opened fire, wounding nine people and killing two before killing himself as police arrived.

Theater Shooting News Chris Grollnek Interview
Theater Shooting News Chris Grollnek Interview

Police have not determined a motive for the attack.

Grollnek, whose company specializes in active shooter prevention, said there is no consistent profile of a mass shooting suspect, making it difficult to predict their actions.

“It would be crazy for us to dismiss these people as crazy,” he cautioned, however, noting that shooters are often calculated and intelligent and they are trying to outdo each other.

He suggested it is not a coincidence that the shooting occurred just days after the three-year anniversary of James Holmes killing 12 people and wounding 70 others at a theater in Aurora, Colorado. The penalty phase of Holmes’ trial, in which he is facing a possible death sentence, has gotten extensive media coverage this week.

Grollnek said people’s response to tragedies like this is often either to call for more restrictive gun laws or to arm themselves.

“Weapons are not going to solve the problem and gun laws are not going to solve the problem,” he said.

Realistically, there is also only so much security that can be put in place at soft targets like movie theaters.

“We don’t want to turn theaters into the TSA…turning them into some type of fortress that you have to go through checkpoints to see a movie,” he said.

The public also should not cower in their homes in fear, though.

“We cannot fall victim to allowing these people to dictate that we shouldn’t go to the movies,” he said.

Grollnek said movie theaters have a responsibility to train their staffs in threat detection, surveillance, and prevention. He suggested that similar training—even just free training available online—would be beneficial for families as well.

“We as a society just need to be more prepared. We live in a different world now than yesterday” with the constant threat of terrorism and lone wolf attacks.

In the absence of professional training, however, he advised that families talk about and plan for what to do in emergencies like this—know where the exits are, know how to get out, and where to meet when you get to safety.

“Train your mind, train your family,” he said. See list of Strategic Partners “Our Nations Problem Solvers; “when t three letter agency responds to a crisis, they call one or more of These Professionals to augment their response.”

Grollnek praised the quick response of Lafayette police, noting that the average police response time to an active shooter situation is often closer to 17 minutes—and the shootings are typically over in less than seven.

Theater Shooting Interview by Chris Grollnek

Similar Posts