EAST LANSING, Mich. — On Monday, Feb. 13th, tragedy struck Michigan State University's campus. A gunman opened fire leaving three students dead and five injured.
In active shooter situations like this, many may not know what is the right thing to do. Who do you call? Where do you go? When is it all clear?
I spoke to Public Information Officer Lt. Rene Gonzalez from the Michigan State Police who answered some of these questions.
In the event of a shooting, Gonzalez advises everyone to dial 9-1-1.
"First thing people should do is call 9-1-1," said Gonzalez, "If you, if you know of an active shooter, or you think someone may be going to take an active shooter roll, call 911. They're the ones that are going to dispatch the police, the police will get there quickly, and then, they'll investigate. Don't call your parents, because that's just wasting time. Don't call a friend or start going to social media. Call 9-1-1."
If you are near the shooting, Gonzalez says that there are three things they advise: Run, Hide, Fight.
"Run. That's what I tell my kids to do," said Gonzalez, "If you get a chance to get out of that area, run. Next, hide. If you know they're not going to find you, there's a good chance he or she won't stay there. But if there's an instance, where they're going to break into that room where you're hiding, you've got no choice but to fight. You can sit there and be a victim, or you can fight, and there's a good chance you're gonna save your life by fighting back."
Gonzalez also said that he thinks this issue will not go away.
"No, you can't stop worrying about, it's not going to stop. We can't. I know there's stuff out there trying to change laws, trying to make people safer." said Gonzalez "But you're still going to have people that can get access to weapons, even if it's by criminal means. So you have to always be aware out there, I don't think this world is going to get any safer."
Gonzalez says that a year from now, he hopes that the MSU community will still come together to remember the victims.
"I think a year from now, there'll be the anniversary where we're going to remember these three kids that died, the ones that were injured and everybody that was affected by this. I'm hoping that it's going to bring the community closer," he said. Maybe we don't sweat the small stuff like we have been, and everybody's not so quick to snap at each other. I'm hoping that that helps people realize that everything could be gone in a moment's notice. "
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