A guest on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” show suggested Thursday morning that in an active shooter situation, people should charge the gunman instead of taking cover and calling the authorities.
Dr. Darrin Porcher, a former New York police lieutenant, claimed “we’ve seen a lot of success with confronting the shooter directly” during a discussion on Wednesday’s deadly mass shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, where a gunman killed 12 people.
“And we look at what happened with the 9/11 hijackers in Pennsylvania, for example,” Porcher said. “There are so many people at that location, if they converge on the shooter, it’ll stop it.”
“Granted, someone may get shot,” he said. “But the truth of the matter is this will decrease the carnage far greater than if you look to run, hide and dial 911.”
For the record, in an active shooting situation, the Department of Homeland Security recommends on its website to “run and escape, if possible,” and to “hide, if escape is not possible.” Fighting the shooter, it says, should be “an absolute last resort.”
Confusingly, Porcher almost immediately walked back his gung-ho suggestion when issuing this further advice: “When you’re in these types of situations, you have two options: to either evacuate or shelter in place.”
Check out the clip via Media Matters here: