Silent Night

On Christmas Eve I usually spend the evening alone, putting together a huge batch of lasagna for my family.  It's a labor of love that I come to with eager anticipation each year.

But not this year.  Too many bad-guys out there. 

In view of that on-going threat, here's what I'm going to do: walk around for a few hours. I have a right to do so. And I have a right to be in a public place with a concealed weapon because I am properly licensed in my state to do so.

There's a mall near me that might be targeted in a Christmas Eve  attack. So that's where I shall take my stroll.  I mean, why not?  It's the holiest holiday on the Christian calendar and a night upon which the most conspicuous-consumption money gets spent by people all over the world.  Why the mall near me and not the mall near... you?  I don't know. Maybe it will be the one near you.  I don't have any actionable intel, no premonitions, not making any SWAG.  I'm just going to the mall near me because I can go to that one whereas I can't go to the one near you.

A mall attack might be undertaken during Black Friday weekend shopping festivities, so I'm also heading out today to see what I can see.

I live in a state which permits concealed carry of handguns so I'll take my baby with me, as I usually do, and a few travelin' items, listed here for your consideration. Tell me if I'm missing anything.

If you don't have a handgun but would like one, for any reason, take a look here for some thoughts on good, reasonably priced weapons. 

Before I go, I'll review some posts I've made here in the past such as Shooters, here, and Give Me Back My Bullets, here.  Homeless Alert, here, and Lessons from Omaha,  here. Oh, the weather outside is frightful, here.  But the fire is so delightful, here, and This just in, here.

I've tried to cover a host of possibilities in the posts linked to above, but I know I can't cover each and every scenario because there are too many variables.  Still, if I hear shots coming from one end of the mall, I'll move toward the sound of the guns, not run screaming into the parking lot. There will be enough people doing that ~ I don't need to participate. I'll try to get to the intersection closest to the shooter(s) and then try to find cover, if it's available or concealment of some sort if that's all the terrain gives me. 

If the set-up permits, here's what I'll try to do if I am the only... walker: Assuming the shooter(s) is approaching from the direction of Monkey Wards walking up the mall towards Jacque C Penne, I will look for cover behind the centered kiosk, if it's there. If not, I'll take cover in the Pet Store or the Salon. I'll wait til the shooter(s) moves north past the kiosk and engage him with as much firepower as I can, shooting from the Pet Store toward the Salon or toward the Pet Store from the Salon, depending of course on where I'm situated. I'm not going to take a shot or two and then duck. I'm going to shoot until he or she stops his or her threatening/deadly actions and if that means I have to empty a full 15 round mag into him, then that's what it takes. Followed by a quick reload as I check for other approaching shooters.

If the kiosk is there I can use that as cover. I don't need to get right up next to it for it to block bullets, I can move laterally behind it for several feet to the east or west and as long as I keep it between me and the shooter, I'm covered.

If there happens to be another walker with me, here's what we'll try to do: Assuming we're walking at the north end as we hear shooting coming from the south end, we'll head at a range-walk toward the sound of the guns. My partner will take up a position just north of the kiosk and I will go into either Ed's or Oz, and at least get some concealment, if only from a shadow. These positions give my partner the ability to fire north to south from behind cover while I shoot east-west or west-east. My partner stays concealed until I see the shooters have moved into the zone directly between Ed's and Oz. When they're in that zone, I open fire east-west or west-east and my fellow-walker opens up north to south. Suddenly the shooters are taking fire from two directions and if it's accurate and sustained fire, they're going to stop their attack right then and there.

If there is no kiosk, my partner goes into the Pet Store or Salon kitty-corner from me and, using the door-frame along the main hallway as cover, shoots the bad-guys when I open fire. It might be best if he's prone as he fires so the bullets are rising as they hit the bad-guys... and rising if they miss.

These are general tactics I may need to change based on any number of unforeseeable circumstances.

And, of course I'll let the cops do what they have to do whenever it is that they arrive on scene.

And, if they question me, I won't lie to them.

Now you know the basics of the L-Shaped Ambush. But they started it, didn't they?

Of course, before I begin to fire, I've determined by the reasonable man standard, seen here, that the shooter(s) pose a clear and present danger to myself and other walkers and shoppers and that the shooter's deadly actions need to be stopped immediately using reasonable force which is in this case, since they're shooting at people, deadly force.

At least that's my estimate. If anyone else were to be in my situation, he or she would have to make their own decision as to what he or she would or would not do. Maybe all one might choose to do is counter-surveillance ~ walking around looking for suspicious people and things to report to the police. I don't know. I only know what I'll do. And those who mutter or shout that we must doooooo something and then do nothing can keep on muttering. 

Alrightythen, I will be strolling not only Christmas Eve but on Black Friday as well.  I'll let you know how it turns out. The lasagna that is. I'll make it on the 23rd.

Update 27 Nov '09: Saw two or three people I've known before in my life, long ago. Exposed again to the sad fact that Simon Group security sucks. Simon Group owns a ton of malls, some of which I did protection surveys on more than a decade ago. Guess what... they still suck.

And, I ran into Sandra at Dave's and said a sincere hello.

Update 29 Nov '09: About 0930 this morning, while trying to find a decent football game to watch, I saw that four of our local police officers had been ambushed and slain in a coffee shop, initial story here.

I fired off a few emails to a fellow-blogger so he could track the story in case it's jihad and then geared up and headed for the local mall just in case the attack was a distraction to draw police assets from a large, soft target. At the mall, there didn't appear to be any extra security measures being taken against the possibility they might get hit. For about 90 minutes I hung around the end of the mall most likely to be used in an attack, and then left about 1230.  Seemed to me that if bad-guys were going to hit the mall, using the ambush as a distraction, they would have done it by then.

I'll post on the ambush in a few days. Some initial observations:

• Though the police had broadcast the race (black) of the shooter with the rest of his description, one Seattle news station left that insignificant little detail off their on-screen list. So, if this turns out to be jihad, don't expect them to ever call it jihad.
• In a 1330 phone interview about the shooting, Rob McKenna, the Washington State Attorney General, proffered that the shooter could be nothing but mentally ill.
• I am again disappointed that so many people, when interviewed by the press, say I can't believe this could happen here. I'm sure that when the shooter is captured, those who knew him will say, I can't believe he could do such a thing ~ he was such a nice guy.  As long as people don't believe things like this can happen right next to them, in coffee shops they visit, they will not be aware of potential danger and therefore not prepared to deal with it with anything other than high-pitched screams.
• Our esteemed governor, Christine Gregoire, said the murders are incomprehensible. Again, if people, especially our leaders, can't conceive of such horror being committed in their territory then we won't be prepared.

More to follow. Pray for the families of the slain.

Comments

[jalandhar]

Spirit Wolf must be into tree hugging.

[Undaunted]

Well, what can I say?

I could have easily named The Pet Store a candy store or a cigar store or a shoe store. I didn't think about what was in the store, just that I needed to identify a box on a diagram for reader ease.

You need to read my Patty-cake post. You're suggesting I draw more fire toward me ~ as though in this situtation I won't be taking enough ~ so I can give my life for some stupid fucking pet. Brilliant.

We deserve only the peace for which we are willing to pay. Enjoy your holidays.

[Spirit Wolf]

Hopefully, nothing will happen anywhere, and we can all enjoy a peaceful Christmas, no matter our individual persuasion.

However, you're right in planning that something MIGHT happen, given the current state of affairs.

My only plea would be this: If s--- does hit the fan, try to draw fire away from the pet store, if it carries live animals. They're innocent khufir, too. :s Put as many holes the jihadist as you like, though. :P

Hope you had yerself a happy Thanksgiving. :)