Yesterday, my wife was inside WalMart in South County - St. Louis, MO. 03-SEP-2022.
Shots rang out INSIDE the store. 8 of them total. Specifically. 2, then 3 then 1 then 2.
She doesn’t conceal carry, and is smart enough to know to go AWAY from the sound. (She doesn’t carry… yet… but you STILL GO AWAY from the sound, even armed. That firearm is to protect, not go on offense with like a ■■■■■■ cowboy in a movie - granted, if it is in your presence or immediate surroundings, things would be different).
There was the panic, the screaming, etc… People running…
Understand that my wife has medical (COPD) and physical issues (Bad Knee), and usually uses those little scooters in the store… so there is no “Running” for her.
I can tell you this, boys and girls… you never want to be woke from a dead sleep by your phone, and the first thing you hear is your spouse in a panic, hyperventilating, saying “They’re shooting”.
My first thought was I’M Panicking and I have to reel myself in a bit. -I- couldn’t panic (altho I was inside) I had to be the calm one. I had to be factual, stern, and in control of my emotions. Short, pointed questions, focus on yes/no… don’t make her talk more than necessary, etc… Short, to the point, take the emotion out of it. all these things ran thru my head in about 0.05 seconds…
This is how the conversation went:
Her: “they’re shooting”
Me: “Where are you?”
Her: “Walmart”
Me: “Wherever the sound came from, go the other way. Do that now.”
Then I had to address the hyperventilating.
Me: “You HAVE to slow your breathing down. Where is your rescue inhaler?”
Her: “I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know”
Pure, unadulterated panic…
Me: “You have to focus… get away from where you heard the sounds and slow your breathing down”
Her: “I’m trying”
Me: “Ignore the pain (I knew the Knee would be killing her) just move. You will be okay. Just keep moving.”
Her: “It’s a dead end, there is nowhere to go”
Now here, I want to express the fact that panic is a traumatizing thing and makes you see/think differently… you see the end of the aisle, and assume it is a dead end, but at the end there is at Least a right or left… there are no “dead end aisles” and that is by design (in fact, I don’t think there are any “dead end aisles” allowed by law in a store, but I I could be wrong, and I digress). But she was panicked, and panicked bad.
Me: “There are no dead ends, keep moving away from where you heard the shots. Work on slowing your breathing down… in nose out mouth”
At this point, I knew there was no way of her slowing her breathing down short of a brown paper bag… and we ain’t got the time for that… I knew panic had set in and set in hard… My thought was to keep her getting away, but cognizant of the Need to slow her breathing, not necessarily just doing it right then and there… which led me to the rescue inhaler I’d not gotten the answer to…
Her: “Im scared”
Me: “I know, I would be too… just keep moving, ignore the pain… where is your rescue inhaler”
Her: “Purse”
Me: “Do you have your purse, or did you leave it”
Her: “I have it”
Me: “Okay, thats awesome, good job… Just keep moving, we will get you that inhaler as soon as you’re safe”
Her: “I dont wanna die I dont wanna die I dont wanna die”
Me: “You’re not gonna die, you will be fine, just keep moving. focus on moving away”
Here there was a lull that seemed like it took forever, and all I heard was her breathing entirely too hard, but I had to trust she was doing as instructed, and talking while in an active shooter situation would only draw attention… But, I couldn’t help it…
Me: “Hows it going?”
Her: “theres someone here”
Me: “Who”
Her: “Walmart girl”
Me: “Go to her, listen to her, do as she says”
Turns out she was hesitating because she didnt know who to trust in her panicked state… and the walmart employee was keeping quiet and gesturing to my wife - not yelling at her… which may draw attention… smart, actually…
The walmart employee got her out the back of the building thru an emergency exit.
She got out, stopped, and did the rescue inhaler… twice…
By then police had arrived. (pretty remarkable, actually… their response was very swift… County got there first, happened to be in the area, apparently).
That whole conversation took 4 minutes and 12 seconds.
Seemed like an hour to me.
If you have gotten this far, thank you for your attention… but there are couple other things I want to make note of:
-
The Mainstream Media didn’t cover it that day. There were no helicopters, no on-site coverage… The next morning, they mentioned in passing that there was ONE shot fired OUTSIDE the building. This is a blatant lie. Why? That is up for you to decide… This isn’t the thread for judgement, this is the thread for Improvement.
-
As harrowing as this was, we ALL need to Learn from this. Including me.
This has had me second-guessing myself, my decisions that morning, even the decision to take a nap while my wife just went to walmart… My decisions on prioritization of subject conversation, everything.
I Question Everything, it only makes you better. Im like the 2 year old that can’t stop asking “Why?” but only to learn and get better.
So, re-read the conversation, think about it, and tell me what I could have done differently or better… good or bad… I don’t give a ■■■■… all opinions are welcome… wanna know why?
This is something that doesn’t happen to everyone in their lifetime, and I call those learning moments… and if anyone (including myself) learns from this, it does nothing but help anyone else who, god forbid, ever got in a situation like this.
My wife is doing okay… still showing signs of a traumatic event (can’t sleep, still hears the gunshots kind of thing) but shes alive… thank god… Im okay. I think I handled it fairly decently, altho I do second guess myself especially with her breathing… and the priority I put on it.
While this may not be a Conceal Carry Event, that doesn’t mean its not an Event I experienced that we all may better ourselves for.
I appreciate any and all advice, and hope this thread may help anyone picking up that phone not expecting a situation like that.
Thank you. Be Safe.
-G
