Crime & Safety

Run, Hide and Fight; Channahon Police Offer Tips to Deal with an Active Shooter

In a community class Tuesday night, attendees learned tips on what to do if they find themselves in a situation with an armed gunman.

Channahon Police Officers John Blough and Craig Gunty began their presentation Tuesday night by telling attendees that the presentation was not meant to scare them.

"It's to help you survive and come out of a bad situation," Blough said.

The presentation at was designed to help people know what to do if they found themselves in a public place with an armed gunman. Blough and Gunty told attendees that police have begun to notice a pattern that the gunmen have killed themselves when police arrived.

Find out what's happening in Channahon-Minookawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"What we're seeing is a pretty solid pattern with active shooters," Blough said. "This is somebody whose primary motive is to kill."

What police told attendees if they find themselves in a situation with an active shooter is to:

Find out what's happening in Channahon-Minookawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

  • Run
  • Hide
  • Fight

"You're gonna run; if you can't run, you're gonna hide; if you can't hide, you're gonna fight," Gunty said.

Police said the best reaction is to run. Run away from the situation. Leave your belongings. If you encounter someone who is frozen in fear, you can encourage them to run also, but you have to run to save your own life.

If you cannot run and you need to hide and you are in a situation such as a school, police said to get as much distance between you and the shooter as possible.

"Lock the door; it's key, it's a simple thing," Blough said.

After locking the door, put anything you can against it and hide behind that - filing cabinets, furniture, etc.

"Cover is actually what is going to block bullets for you," Gunty said.

If you happen to be able to alert police to what is going on, Blough said you have to try to remain as calm as possible to give the dispatcher information the police can use. For example, is there one gunman or more? Is the gunman male or female? Does the gunman have multiple weapons?

Gunty told attendees they do not need to know if the gunman has a particular kind of gun - but being able to describe it, short, long, etc., is helpful.

Lastly, Blough and Gunty said that once you find your way outside in such a situation, make sure that your hands are visible and you are not reaching for or holding anything. Police responding to the scene may have no idea what the gunman looks like and they are going to respond to any threat.

"The purpose of this is not to make you paranoid, but make you prepared," Gunty said.

Get news where you live. Sign up for the Channahon-Minooka or Shorewood newsletters.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Channahon-Minooka