https://dailycaller.com/2019/0...ter-michigan-campus/

Popping balloons reportedly triggered an active shooter warning on University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus Saturday.

The initial warning from the Division of Public Safety and Security read simply, “UM EAlert Ann Arbor: Active shooter in Mason Hall . Run, hide, fight.”

UPDATE:
The perp has been apprehended:

At least he looks the part . . . .

flashguy

99 Luftballons?

Haha, seriously? I got a listener notice on my scanner app about that. They were busy clearing buildings. About 30,000 listeners at the time.

Popping balloons...ridiculous.

It’s been reported many times that at the start of active shooter incidents many people didn’t recognize the sounds as gunshots. They thought they were something else like backfires or other explosive pops. As a consequence they didn’t take any action immediately when it would have been most effective. In this situation if there was any screaming, that would have increased the likelihood of its being an active shooter. In fact, in classes on the topic I point out that screams are a good indication that something bad is happening.

Of course, some people are too cool to assume the worst and act accordingly. After the planes hit the Twin Towers, for example, it was documented that many people in the buildings continued on as if nothing had happened, and when they were told to evacuate they took their time, even to the point of shutting down their computers and carefully gathering all their stuff. But if the buildings hadn’t collapsed, all those who left immediately would have been taunted and mocked by the unflappable ones, and they certainly wouldn’t want that.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

Of course, some people are too cool to assume the worst and act accordingly.

And some people tend to overreact and cause hysteria.

None of that changes the fact that this particular situation was a bit absurd, certainly after the fact in any case.

At least they were a left-wing university, what about our Air Force a few years ago!

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The reported gunshots that triggered a lockdown at Kirtland Air Force Base Wednesday afternoon turned out to be someone popping bubble wrap, said Eric Elliott, the director of public affairs for the base.

“One individual had some heavy-duty bubble wrap from a package and was stepping on it to pop it,” he said. “Someone else heard the popping and —due to (the mass shooting) happening in San Bernardino — called 911.”

The base and three nearby elementary schools were locked down for about 45 minutes while security forces investigated.

On Thursday, the popper confessed to sparking the scare with the “sandwich bag-size air pockets,” Elliott said.

ISTM gunshots would sound considerably louder than popping balloons.

I'll guarantee you it is because everyone the media interviews after an active shooter says "I heard POP POP POP and knew...." or "I heard a popping noise and people screaming" or " the gunman walked by me and I heard POP POP POP"

Virtually all of us here have heard gunfire.
How many of us here, though, have heard guns fired inside a large building? Very few schools or office buildings allow guns to be fired there while people are going about their daily activities in other parts of the building.

In the training I’ve conducted for both officers and occupants* of such buildings I have fired blanks to give them that experience for that reason.
During an attempted murder investigation in Germany I also fired a live round in one room of a residence while people were on the floor above to determine if the “bump” they heard could have been a gunshot. A balloon popping in the next room won’t sound like a gunshot in the next room, but a balloon popping in the next room or otherwise nearby can sound like a gunshot at the other end of the building—if not louder.

To reiterate, in many active shooter events people didn’t initially think that the gunshots they heard were gunshots. That’s a well-established and commonly reported fact.† If, then, they are told that that’s a fact, it’s not surprising that some might confuse other noises with what could be gunshots, especially if they hear screaming along with them.

* When training non-LEOs, though, many people in charge of the buildings don’t like the idea of blanks being fired because it will scare their people too much. Truth.

Added:

† This was again reported in an article in the 18 March 2019 edition of The Wall Street Journal about the New Zealand incident: “For the first few seconds, I thought it was fireworks or electricity shocks ….”

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigfreund,

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
A balloon popping in the next room won’t sound like a gunshot in the next room, but a balloon popping in the next room or otherwise nearby can sound like a gunshot at the other end of the building—if not louder.

That seems unlikely, to me, but I guess I'll have to take your word for it. You certainly appear to have a whole helluva lot more experience in this subject than I.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
To reiterate, in many active shooter events people didn’t initially think that the gunshots they heard were gunshots.

Yes, I know. I just figured "balloons...?"

It’s long been recognized that humans (and other animals) evolved to be more likely to react to negatives rather than to ignore positives.

Back when we had to worry about such things as large predators, an unnecessary response to a negative would be hearing an unusual noise and thinking, “Is that a saber toothed cat?” and grabbing a spear when it was just the wind.
An inappropriate response to a positive threat would be thinking, “Oh, I’m sure it was just the wind,” and continuing to dress a hide when the noise was a saber toothed cat getting ready to spring.
But guess which thinking and response gave our ancestors the opportunity of passing on their genes to the most offspring?

In modern civilized societies, though, those differences in responses have largely been reversed. Threats from things like large predators have almost disappeared from our lives and the resulting cultural pressures have changed. We frequently see this in reports of how someone will tell a robber or other armed individual, “I’m not afraid of you or your gun!” One incident described in a book I just finished was about a woman in New York who was being robbed at gunpoint who defiantly said, “What are you going to do? Shoot us?” Well, yes, that’s exactly what he did: He shot and killed her. The reason she did not react appropriately to the deadly threat the robber represented was because such threats are so rare in our lives today. Would a woman who encountered Smilodon in a jungle 20,000 years ago have been so defiant? “What? Are you going to kill and eat me?” “Well, yes, that’s exactly what I’m going to do if you don’t immediately run for your life or discourage me with an effective weapon.”

As I mentioned above, our culture encourages people to be cool and ignore possible threats, and the reason is because very few threats are serious. Women and children in particular have become much more willing to do things that would have gotten them severely beaten or killed 100 years ago. The current thread about the 17-year-old who egged the Australian senator is a perfect example. Because they are so strongly protected by legal sanctions they can do those things without risk of serious consequences (usually).

All of that is why those of us who conduct response to active killer classes must reverse people’s responses back to evolution’s lessons, that is, it’s better to react to a negative as if it were a positive threat than to react to an active killer shooting people as if it were balloons popping and young girls squealing.
Unless, of course, we believe that being cool is more important than surviving the occasional positive threat.

I understand the principles of false negatives, false positives and the safer stance. Ex-network security professional. Spent a great deal of time educating my customers as to the benefits of "better safe than sorry."

Same with my wife. I've probably told this story, before, so I'll keep it short. Had an experience during a garage sale that made me wary. For the first time since our marriage I'd brought my Ruger Security Six out of hiding and kept it close at hand when I was home. Freaked my wife out. I did not budge.

She no longer thinks twice about me always having a defensive weapon close to hand. Part of that is due to my ongoing efforts in educating her that the world isn't as safe as many (most?) would like to believe and that it's better to have a fire extinguisher you never use, and always investigate whenever you even think you smell smoke, than not to do those things.

It only takes making the easy, and wrong, assumption once to mess up your whole day--or the rest of your life.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I understand the principles of false negatives, false positives and the safer stance.

I was sure you did. The reason I go on about such things, though, is that many people these days do not.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I understand the principles of false negatives, false positives and the safer stance.

I was sure you did. The reason I go on about such things, though, is that many people these days do not.

That is true. However, those people are not likely to be reading this forum.

flashguy