Non-Threatening Postures: What to Do After a Shooting

What to do after a shooting? More specifically, what should you do in the aftermath of using a firearm in a public environment? Barret Kendrick of Bearco Training explains how to reduce the chances of being mistaken for a bad guy.

Armed in Public

You know that you have just fired on a bad guy who needed to be stopped because he was trying to hurt you or a loved one. But does everyone else in the environment know that? Not necessarily, and they may mistake you for a bad guy. Today, more and more people have concealed carry permits and may be armed in public, in addition to on- and off-duty law enforcement officers and private security personnel who may be present. In other words, there are potentially a lot of armed good guys who may think you’re a bad guy.

Once you’ve stopped shooting, it’s important not to appear to others like you’re still shooting. What does Barrett mean?

Proper Ready Position After Shooting

In the past, extended ready positions were commonly taught as what to do after a shooting, for scanning and assessing the environment for other threats. One problem with that is it looks like you are still using the firearm.

Barrett advocates bringing the firearm into the high compressed ready position and assessing the environment from that position — with the gun held close in to the chest. This non-threatening posture will cause others to hesitate and realize they do not need to use their firearm against you.

There’s a lot that can go wrong where you can still get hurt in the immediate aftermath of a shooting in a public environment. Keep this in mind when practicing your handgun skills.

PDN offers much more information about what to do after a shooting in a public space, including defensive legal issues.