The assumption being, someone skilled enough to properly respond. Off duty cop even would have been able to adequately deal with the situation most likely, so in all likelihood, nobody there appeared prepared for something like that and that is to be expected. Everything would have been different had someone taken him down or returned fire at the very least, and I completely agree that had someone shot back, he would have been killed, injured or scared off and far fewer lives would have been lost. In a panic, most people are almost certainly trying to hide, escape or find a way to defend themselves. I also doubt that he was "invisible" to them in the smoke, as some said they could only see the muzzle flashes while others said they could clearly see him.
Exactly. The problem I've been running into when talking with people about this is them assuming that anyone responding would have made the situation worse, when in all reality there is no way to know because it didn't happen.
I am not saying I know how I would react either, but given enough opportunity, I'd like to think I would respond accordingly. I would risk hitting someone else to stop an assailant, but lately I've been shooting a few hundred rounds a week also. In the long run, I HIGHLY doubt return fire would have resulted in more casualties, because though he was armored, I guarantee he would not have expected return fire from patrons - he was armored for police.
I may not be completely up to date on what he was wearing, but I was under the impression that he was wearing a tactical vest, which is actually not bullet proof. If this is true, any decent body mass hit would have been effective. If he was wearing bullet proof armor, it would still hurt and be disorienting. At the very least he would have known people were fighting back.
There were accounts that said he never once reloaded. He had a 100rd drum on the AR but it jammed, then switched to shotgun and handguns. I am not assuming someone who was carrying would be incompetent, but not all those who are carrying are trained to deal with a situation like this. I certainly am not, though I would expect that at least a moderate percentage of those carrying would be.
The time from when his AR jammed and when he switched weapons is more than enough to rush him, and if you're armed, take a few well timed shots. Rushing him would take some serious cajones, I wouldn't fault anyone for not doing so. Heck, just thinking about it scares the crap out of me. That could be a different story though if an armed patron took advantage and sent some lead his way.
Armor was protecting vitals, but legs and arms are up for grabs, and a gas mask doesn't stop bullets. This was not a situation for "shoot to disable" either; this is an "end as quickly as possible" situation. I would expect that someone truly carrying for personal defense would also be loaded up with personal defense ammo as well, and that's definitely going to hurt even on the armor for sure, if not penetrate it.
Nice, I read that linked article and one thing he mentions, I've always done out of habit as well. While eating, I sit somewhere against the wall where I can see everything and know my ways out. I also normally have my high output LED flashlight which has a "blind" strobe mode, though had not entirely considered it "tactical". Another point that he didn't only sort of touched on - what you hide behind matters. A table or car door protects in the movies only - they won't stop most bullets in real life.
