Instructional Video: Fatal Mistake at a Mass Shooting

Active Self Protection (ASP) is a vigilance group that produces videos which instructionally break down the action of people who use good (or bad) self defense methods of approaching a situation where a gun is already drawn on them.

In this video, two shooters enter a Walmart in Las Vegas, Nevada, in a prelude to a mass shooting that eventually takes the lives of two police officers.  However, this instructional video revolves around a concealed carry owner named John Wilcox, who witnesses the first of the two shooters enter the store.

His back is turned toward them as they enter, but he appears to initially notice the first shooter.  When the first shot into the ceiling rings out, Wilcox immediately springs into action.  Unfortunately, he is not aware that the shooter was not alone.  Due to this, he is murdered from behind by the second female shooter while following the first.

John Correia, the host of the instructional uses the final moments of the video to make a plea to all concealed carriers.

CORREIA:  Our CCW guy pulls his firearm and I’m just gonna tell you guys I don’t recommend you get involved in third-party encounters and this is why.  Not that he did a bad thing here, he did a very, very good thing in trying to protect everyone and stop this conflict, but he didn’t know what was going on behind him, so now he’s following, he’s trying to figure out where the source of the shots are coming from, and you see he doesn’t notice the trailing multiple attacker.  And because of that, he goes to engage the bad guy he sees and she ambushes him from behind and murders him.

And of course this is just a rare occurrence, but this is one of the reasons I say that involving yourself in a third-party incident is, generally speaking, not what you wanna do.

Mr. Wilcox lost his life in this encounter, was killed by one shot from the trailing gunman, who I won’t name.  You know, that reminds us ASPers, if you’re gonna step into someone else’s encounter, you gotta think about the cost on your family.  I’m not saying that he did the wrong thing, here, in fact, I applaud him for his bravery and his willingness to step in, to try to stop the loss of life of innocent people.  But you imagine what the costs on your spouse, on your children, on your family could be if something like this were to happen to you.  I can’t tell you enough about spiritual fitness, ASPers.  You gotta be at peace with the people around you, those who love you in your life, as well as with God, because you never know when your last day on Earth is gonna be.  It also teaches us about the chaos of an active shooter situation as well as being aware of multiple attackers and that trailing gunman.  And always being aware of what’s going on around you.  This footage right here is the reason that I tell you that, generally speaking, I would not step in to an active shooter situation.  I would not step in to a third-party encounter unless my life depended on it or the lives of my loved ones, because the cost could be so high that it might cost you your life.

Well said, John, and please be safe out there, everyone, not only for your sakes, but for your family who want you to come home again safe and sound.