A normal day on campus. Suddenly, the building is swarmed by campus police, equipped to their teeth. Cop cars are outside blocking off the street from all sides of the building.
Someone seems to know what is going on. A crowd gathers around them. "There's been a call on the emergency phone, informing of a man with a gun just outside of this building."
That is enough for me to hear to think that, maybe, it is not such a hot idea to stand in a large group. I walk away, nervously checking for strange faces, trying to think of paths I can take that offer me choices to turn in a different direction if must be.
Cops stick around for a long time. It is the end of the day and I don't have a real reason to stick around the lab, so I leave the building and the cops behind me.
And although I know that there is a good chance all this is just a prank, I wish I knew what would be the proper way to react in case it wasn't. Is it better to stay in groups? Hide out in obscure parts of the building, locking all doors behind? Leave the building as soon as possible? Stay close to the cops? What is the best way to behave in this situation other than not loosing your head?
To come back to my story, they think it must have been a prank. The call can't be traced, and the "gunman" was never seen by anyone else. We may never know for sure. But even though the danger was only perceived, my heart did skip a beat.
The perverse incentives of academia
6 years ago
9 comments:
Hm, I never thought of that before. I imagine staying in groups has more benefits (i.e. greater force, looking out for one another) than the con of the gunman slipping into said herd anonymously. I feel like going to somewhere too obscure means that the cops won't find you but a gunman might, given the recent spat of students going on rampages. I guess I'd go for a group exit from the building asap, finding as much cover as possible (i.e. not running out into a quad, plaza, etc).
I feel like the zombie apocalypse people will be infinetly more prepared for such things than we are. Which is somehow ironic.
Wow, that's really scary! I'm glad nothing bad actually happened. I think if I were ever in that situation, I'd probably try to hide somewhere and lock the doors. Can't believe, given how many actual shootings there have been, that someone would think this was a funny prank to pull.
We had a lock-down situation last year. Luckily it was not a violent threat but it was certainly scary when we didn't know what was going on!
I'd probably leave if I could. If I couldn't just be extra aware of my surroundings and lock all doors! Neither of those options sound very effective though!
That would've scared me! Even if it's only a prank (and a bad one at that), it would worry me because, if it were real, I'd have no idea what to do. Plus, I feel relatively safe in my lab/building and the realization that it's not... well... that's unpleasant. Anyhow, I'm glad that you're safe and that there really wasn't a threat!
I feel like the zombie apocalypse people will be infinetly more prepared for such things than we are. Which is somehow ironic.
Ahem!
Liquid Nitrogen. Most labs have a ready supply of it and it'll certainly disarm any attackers. It also works on zombies.
But the safest thing between you and any idiot with a ranged weapon is always distance, not necessarily a locked door. Leave in a group, stay in a group, find safety as a group.
Oh that is scary. I'm not sure what is the best thing. I most likely would get into a locked room.
Hermitage - crowds may be ok unless there are some Stanford-style angry students involved... Lol on the zombies!
MadHatter - the prank was definitely not funny. My first instinct was to run into my office which locks and is inside of a lockable lab.
Albatross - we were told that the gunman was reported to be right outside of the building. So I chose to wait a bit while they searched before walking outside of said building!
Amanda - there is something to be said about needing to feel like your workplace is a safe place to be. Sometimes I wonder if it is a good idea that our building is always unlocked!
ToasterSunshine - distance sounded like a good idea, except we weren't sure if we'd run into the gunman if we got outside of the building... And I am afraid our labs are not fun enough to have liquid nitrogen!
ScientistMother - it was sort of surreal since the gunman was nowhere to be found. I was glad to see how rapid and organized the response of the police was though!
Wow, that's so scary! I'm glad everything was okay. I'd have no idea what to do either.
Yeah, that's scary. Unless I were in the middle of a precious experiment, I probably would have left right away!
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