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Thread: Why do people run into the toilets?

  1. #1
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    Why do people run into the toilets?

    This is a piece on the recent Kenya shooting. https://www.theatlantic.com/internat...habaab/580561/

    My topic is that in a great number of incidents people seem to run into the rest rooms. There is no way out. If you can't defend the door reasonably. It's a death trap. Happened at Sandy Hook, IIRC.

    Is it that people regard the bathroom as some kind of sanctuary? I would tell folks never to do that, go for something that has an exit.

    Thoughts?

  2. #2
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    I think most people without specific training or good presence of mind probably just think "HIDE!" and in a panic state don't have the presence of mind to realize they're trapping themselves.
    "Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire." - R. A. Heinlein

  3. #3
    Suspects have been known to hide in bathrooms too. Might have something to do with a culture in which the bathroom is seen subconsciously as a private place??

  4. #4
    Site Supporter Totem Polar's Avatar
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    Because they know that cops ‘n CCW carriers routinely leave handguns lying around in public restrooms?

    I kid, I kid...
    ”But in the end all of these ideas just manufacture new criminals when the problem isn't a lack of criminals.” -JRB

  5. #5
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    Run, hide, fight. Or so we get told in staff training. Where you gonna hide in a mall or school, if you’ve never wargamed this? Or a bar in Florida?

  6. #6
    Modding this sack of shit BehindBlueI's's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Duelist View Post
    Where you gonna hide in a mall or school, if you’ve never wargamed this? Or a bar in Florida?
    Mall, the stockroom of whatever store you happen to be in. Stateside they usually have a door in the back. Depending on the mall, it'll either dump you outside or in to a hallway for deliveries that will dump you outside if you're on the first floor. On an upper floor, there's usually still a back door but the hallway may dump you back out near an elevator or escalator. I note the "back door" of whatever store I'm in if it's unfamiliar to me. It's not always obvious, particularly in a clothing store.

    Bars are trickier, I'm sure. Especially a multi-level affair, like some of them downtown here. If you're on the 3rd floor and don't know where to access a fire escape, are drunk, and panicked, good luck.
    Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.

  7. #7
    Site Supporter Notorious E.O.C.'s Avatar
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    Well, when I do emergency preparedness presentations, I tell 'em to use bathrooms as tornado shelters, so maybe I need to be a little more explicit that it's not a one-size-fits-all solution.
    The way we do science in XCOM is basically by shooting things first.
    - Jake Solomon

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Condition Write View Post
    Well, when I do emergency preparedness presentations, I tell 'em to use bathrooms as tornado shelters, so maybe I need to be a little more explicit that it's not a one-size-fits-all solution.
    I was wondering if that is a reason people would run there. From the drills in school and they think of it as a safe area.

  9. #9
    I think that the no exit is a very valid point. I will be keeping it in mind. But, I can still see why people may run to the bathroom. I am not sure there is a lot of thinking involved for us regular people in that kind of situation but some of it might be;
    -it gets you out of view of the shooter
    -many are tiled floor to ceiling which, although not an actual bullet stopper, should add some security compared to sheet metal studs and drywall construction everywhere else
    Well heck, I thought I would come up w/ more than two but I guess not. Wife and I always find restaurant seating so I can watch the entrance and sometimes we both can. Now I really need to be looking for exits too. At the very least we need to ID the kitchen. Thanks for bringing this up.

  10. #10
    Site Supporter Hambo's Avatar
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    Why hide in a bathroom? Why drive into the car in front instead of veering into an open lane? If you've never considered what to do in a given emergency, you're likely to make bad choices while in panic mode. The overwhelming majority of people believe that they will never be in a fire, shooting, car wreck, etc, and have no training on what to do if it does happen.
    "Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA

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