(intense music)
- Where is he?
Where's the teacher? (people scream)
- I want you to stay right here.
- Listen.
- Back up.
(gun clicks)
- [Voiceover] Welcome to First Person Defender,
where good guy role-players come face to face
with unknown attackers in real world scenarios
and fight their way out.
Each episode of First Person Defender features a situation
straight out of real life.
- Call the police.
- I've got a gun.
(gun fires) - [Voiceover] This is
First Person Defender.
In this episode of First Person Defender,
a class at the local community college
is suddenly interrupted.
- My name is David,
and I am from St. Louis, Missouri.
Most of my training, in fact, all of my training
has been on the range.
I have never done a force-on-force like this.
I'm excited because I see
a lot of preparation going into this.
I have no idea what is in front of me.
I have not heard anything about
what I'm gonna get involved with,
and so I'm excited and interested to know
what I'm gonna face when I walk through the door.
I'm gonna see how I respond
to having no idea what I'm walking into.
- I'm not really sure what we're looking at with David here.
Because Dave's been exposed to some things,
we do have a really good scenario for him.
It's one that I think a lot of people
would like to go through for training.
It's something that's been happening in real life,
and it's the active killer, active shooter scenario.
For this scenario, we're gonna be using
some blank-firing weapons,
and it's gonna cause him to hear something
he probably hasn't heard before,
which is gunfire inside of a building.
David's gonna be seated in a classroom.
He's going to be watching the instructor,
listening what the instructor has to say,
and he's gonna have to react
to the stimulus that's provided,
and that's gonna start off with gunfire.
He's gonna have to make some quick decisions,
so we're gonna see how this first scenario goes.
- [Voiceover] This force-on-force training
uses Simunitions, a non-lethal alternative
to live ammunition.
The camera crew wears yellow shirts,
and are considered to be invisible to role-players.
- I did all the coursework.
- I know, but-- - I've been studying
my butt off.
- We'll get through this today.
Just one second, okay? Yeah?
- [Michelle] We're looking for that marketing class.
- Yes, this is it, you're in the right place.
- Over here?
- It's not a really full class,
so try to keep everybody up front and over there, please.
- There's a lot of different ways
that David could respond to this scenario.
Of course, we always talk about
the fight, flight, or freeze responses.
Any one of those things could happen.
Today, when I train these scenarios,
we talk about the ability to run, to hide, or fight,
and it may be one of those,
it may be any combination of those.
Of course, we're gonna see if he does anything
with barricading and ambushing as well
because those are all great techniques.
The last thing I'd really like to see him do
on this scenario, and it's a possibility,
is he may go on the hunt
if he's given enough time.
- I'll deal with you later.
- I'm learning.
- Yeah?
- Looks like he's on time. - [Chris] Hey, everybody.
Thanks for sitting up front.
I appreciate it.
We have a small class,
so it'd be great if ...
(book slams)
Thanks, try to keep that under control for me.
Today is marketing 101,
and we're gonna talk about all this stuff.
Again, my name--
Is something bothering you, sir?
- [David] No, not at all. - Because you seem distracted.
- Oh, I'm sorry, I just look around naturally, sorry.
- Okay, well, I would appreciate
your attention up here while we're here.
- Okay.
- Again, my name is Chris.
(shooter screams incoherently)
We're gonna cover all this stuff today.
I would appreciate it
if you guys could keep distractions to a minimum,
keep your phones on vibrate
so that phones aren't ringing in here.
If you want to please check
and make sure that your phones, if you have one,
is set, I like to say, set--
(gun fires)
- Lie down.
- What the heck? - [Michelle] What is that?
- What the heck is that?
(gun fires)
Guys, that sounds like
gunfire. (gun fires)
- You have a gun? - [Chris] I'm not exactly sure
what's going on here.
- What is that?
- Oh my god.
- Call 911,
call 911. - [Chris] I'm gonna go,
I'll go check, I'll see what it is.
I can go see what it is. (intense music)
(gun fires) (people scream)
- Where is he, where's the teacher?
(gun fires) (people scream)
- What happened?
What is he--
What, why do you have a--
What happened?
- All right, end ex, end ex, end ex.
(eerie music)
- Wow.
- Holy cow.
- That was quick.
- It was quick. (David laughs)
- That was real quick.
- What were you thinking?
- Well, I heard the shots fired outside,
and I thought, "Okay, something's happening outside.
"I'd better get ready to defend at least myself."
I wanted somebody to call 911
because, obviously, they hadn't come into the room yet.
Whatever it was happening outside,
I had no idea what was there.
I just heard shots fired and people yelling,
so I thought, "I'd better take up a defensive position."
I wanted to get over here
to cut the angle on the door
so if anybody came through,
they wouldn't have a clear shot on me.
Then, as soon as I saw the first guy
come through the door falling,
I knew he wasn't the guy with the gun,
or at least, I looked, and I didn't see one,
so the threat was still there.
Then, when I saw the second gentleman
come through with the gun, I saw the gun.
Then it was time to open fire.
- Did you use your sights at all?
What were you thinking
as you were aiming? - [David] No, it was instinct,
and then, as soon as he came through
and I saw the green laser on his dark clothing,
I knew I was safe to fire.
- Very cool.
- I'm gonna say the whole thing
took maybe five seconds from beginning to end.
It was quick.
From the moment I got up.
From the shots fired out there,
it was probably a total of 15 seconds
in the entire scenario once I heard
the first shot out in the hall.
- If you had to call 911 and wait for a response,
and you weren't armed and prepared to defend yourself,
how would you have felt in this room
knowing that trouble was just outside that door?
- Naked, vulnerable, yeah.
- All right, very good.
I know this doesn't look like a rifle,
but this is actually Ruger's SR-556 Takedown.
I've got a complete AR-15 in here,
and if you want to be discreet
walking in and out of your house,
or if you live in an apartment,
this is a great way to transport it.
The Ruger 556 Takedown,
you could put a little extra pistol
or some ammo in here, you could go to the range,
and nobody knows the better.
If you wanted to be super discrete ...
(Velcro rips)
Boom, take off your patch,
and all you've got is a black bag.
- All right, you reacted really well,
you did a lot of great things, okay?
But as your teacher and your instructor
in the front of the room, number one,
I want to know who you are and why you have a gun.
Some kind of announcement loudly that,
"Hey, guys, I'm a concealed carry holder.
"I've got my gun with me, I'm a good guy."
Something, whatever you're gonna think of,
but you have to have said it in your mind
before the actual situation happens
'cause the street is a poor place to improvise.
All right, we're up here, we hear the commotion,
there are shots being fired out there.
All right, David, start taking your action.
Shots and commotions happening.
- Everybody down, I'm a concealed carry carrier.
I'm a good guy.
Everybody down, everybody over to the corner there.
Go in the room over there.
- Back to your seats.
That was terrible.
Back to your seats.
- [David] Terrible by me, or terrible by them?
- Both, by you.
- Both, okay.
- Yes. (David laughs)
- People are starting to panic,
and I'm here, I say,
"Holy cow, guys, that's gunshots.
"I'm a concealed carry holder.
"I have a gun.
"Listen to me, listen to me.
"Get in that back room, now!
"Do it! Move, move, move!"
All right, get back in your seats.
(David laughs)
When you tell somebody to do something,
you gotta get 'em motivated
'cause people are gonna be scared,
and they're not gonna be able to hear.
Take charge, be clear, and be concise.
Gunshots are happening out there.
Gunshots, commotion's happening.
- Hey, those are gunshots, those are gunshots.
I am a concealed carrier.
I have a gun.
I'll need you to get in the corner there.
Hurry, hurry, get in the corner back there.
Go faster.
- Okay, guys, come on. - [David] Go faster.
- He said get in the room, get in the room.
Go in there, hide yourselves.
Do you need me to help you barricade that door?
Great, all right, that was awesome.
Everybody, come on back out.
I'm not gonna yell anymore, I promise.
You know, it is so hard to improvise
at the moment you need it,
saying things like, "You, call 911.
"You, get everybody in that back room."
When you point at people
and you make them part of the solution,
that's gonna help everything
go a little bit more smoothly.
When I see you looking at me,
I know I've got your attention.
You, get in that back room,
make sure everybody's there.
Find someone who has a cell phone, and get 911, got it?
See? That's communication,
when you look at people.
When you look at people
and you tell them exactly what's gonna happen.
You be forceful, you be in control
because if you are gonna carry concealed,
what you do is, you take charge of the situation
'cause you are, at that point, in charge.
(electronic music)
- [Voiceover] First Person Defender is brought to you by
Liberty Safe,
Taurus,
Crimson Trace,
and Ruger.
(electronic music)
- A lot of things we deal with
on First Person Defender are tactical situations.
Every once in a while,
weapon manipulation skills will rear their ugly head.
What we had with David was,
he created malfunctions because he wanted
to perform a magazine exchange, tactical reload,
when he really didn't need to,
but he felt that he had shot a bunch of rounds
out of his gun, so he wanted to unload it, reload it,
and then cover down on the bad guy.
I'm gonna give you some tips
on how to do that correctly,
or a little more safely.
I'm gonna load up
my little compact nine,
and I'm gonna take my spare magazine,
I'm gonna put it in my pocket.
When I put that in my pocket to do my reload,
I'm gonna orient it so that,
when it comes out, it comes out in my hand
the way I want it.
I'm gonna show you how this works.
I engage my target maybe four, five, several rounds.
(gun fires)
I'm gonna reach into my pocket,
and I'm gonna change this out,
put my other magazine away,
and I'm ready to move on
with a fully loaded gun.
Now, there's a couple of ways to do this,
a couple of variations,
but I'm sure a local trainer can show those to you
when you go training with them.
(electronic music)
I'm extremely familiar with the Springfield XD-S models,
and I do like a single stack,
smaller pistol for carrying.
Now, if I can combine that pistol
with a light and a laser
such as Crimson Trace's Laserguard Pro,
which has a light and a laser,
it's instinctive activation when I grab it.
Of course, then, I can add to that
some of DoubleTap's, made for small pistol,
nine millimeter ammunation.
It's 77 grain, so it's not beating you up,
and it's not beating the gun up.
I've got a great package here.
I've got a nice slimline pistol, single stack,
got good quality ammo
that's not gonna beat me or the gun up,
and I've got my Crimson Trace light and laser
so that I can search
and acquire sight picture and targets quickly.
(gun fires)
(electronic music)
I don't know what you two are waiting for,
but I need you to go take your seats in there,
and I will be there shortly.
- All right, great, thanks, we weren't sure
where we needed to go. - [Chris] Sorry, I was just
kidding around, that was just me being funny.
For the second scenario,
we've given David a lot of options.
We've given him a lot more mental training
to hopefully make him successful in this scenario.
We'll see, does he barricade the door?
Does he set up an ambush?
Or does he just take everybody into the back corner
and put everybody behind him?
These are all great options,
but hey, you never know how things are gonna work out.
- One person we're missing right now,
but when he shows up,
you know what happens to people that come late, right?
- Yes, sir.
- Yeah, they get to sit in the very front row,
in the very front row.
We'll get started.
Let's start everybody off
by making sure that your phones are turned off,
make sure they're set to stun.
(door slams)
Thanks, I'm glad you could make it.
- Is this, am I in the right place?
- What are you here for?
- Is this English?
- Yeah, this is English.
Same thing, have a seat.
Same thing only different.
(laughs)
You're funny.
Appreciate you coming.
I'm just having some fun with you.
You know I like to have fun.
You think they'd bang out these erasers
once in a while, see?
They're really not that good.
I'd like to start off with the theory
of all things, (door slams)
the theory of marketing.
Yes, sir?
- Is this gonna be on the test.
- You have to imagine that everything
could potentially be on the test, okay?
If you think it sounds important ...
- Then how am I supposed to learn it?
(Chris laughs)
- You're funny, you're funny.
It's a good thing I know you,
otherwise ... (gun fires)
- What is that?
- Gunshots. (gun fires)
Everybody get down, everybody move into the corner.
Move into the corner.
Michelle, take these guys in the corner.
(gun fires)
- Do what? - [Woman] What's going on?
- What is that?
(gun fires) - Go to the corner,
go to the corner now.
Go to the corner, call 911.
(gun fires) (woman shouts)
- Okay, do what he says.
Go on, guys. - [David] Go now, now.
- You heard him.
- Where's the teacher?
That him?
(gun fires)
- [Chris] All right, end ex, end ex, end ex.
(electronic music)
Holy cow.
(David laughs)
You tell me what was going on in your mind
'cause that was scary.
- Well, as soon as he fell,
I was looking for a weapon on him.
He must have fallen on top of it
'cause it saw it in his hands, which was why I shot.
- What happened long before that though?
There was a lot going on.
You started off, you gave good verbal commands.
Tell me where we went from there.
- Yeah, at that point,
I wanted to identify Michelle as being in charge
once I had moved out of my seat,
so I told her to gather everybody up,
and I always made sure, looked back,
and make sure she was doing that, which she was.
I then pied around here, barricaded,
because I wanted to make sure, to your advice.
- I'm gonna stop you right there
before you go into the barricading
because I want to tell you that,
I thought your situational awareness
based on you getting up, looking around,
and noticing not everybody was moving fast enough,
you stopping and saying, "Get in that back corner,
"get in that back corner," was good.
- When the door closed on me after I opened it,
I thought, "Okay, the threat's still there.
"I'm gonna back out and maintain my position."
(Chris laughs)
- I thought that was really good,
and I give Pierre credit for that
because, when he shut that door on your,
it gave you an opportunity to reset and take cover,
because if he had not pushed that door closed
and you had started to search ...
- [David] I figured he was right there.
- Yeah, he would've been right there,
and it would've been an ugly gunfight.
But you did a good job because you acted on the cues.
You threw the door open,
and you came around just enough, and it shut.
Then you said, "Okay, that's it.
"I'm good, I'm backing out."
What do you take away from this entire situation today?
- My biggest takeaway is that, in a situation like this,
there's more than just using your gun.
When I walk into a room from now on,
I'm gonna look at those situations and say,
"If something happens,
"what do I have to use to my advantage
"to stop something from happening?"
- I can tell you this,
that as an armed citizen out and about in our country,
that's exactly what you should be thinking
every time you go somewhere.
(intense music)