Urban survival expert Dale Brown shares defensive tactics in case of a mass shooter attack

Urban survival trainer Dale Brown talks how to survive an active shooter attack

With the Michigan State mass shooting Monday, Commander Dale Brown spoke about muscle memory training to keep in mind.

FOX 2 (WJBK) - The memorial outside Michigan State's Union grows following Monday’s mass shooting and at nearby Berkey Hall, that killed three students and injured five others.

But as the school prepares for classes to resume next week. What can be done for the best chance of surviving an active shooter situation anywhere?

"You run, fight if you have to, and hide. And that’s fine, that’s what you should do," said Dale Brown.

Commander Dale Brown is ex-military and runs Detroit Urban Survival Training in Ferndale.

"We have another action that you can take," he said. "That’s for you to become as a first contacter, a person that can identify the threat, notify the threat, and rectify the threat.

"And as a result of that, you’ll be able to be more effective helping law enforcement bring to closure an active shooter situation."

He says training amounts to your best chance of staying alive if you encounter an active shooter. One defense tool, Brown says, can actually be your phone.

"We can take our phone just around the corner and safely see whose around there, if there’s a gunman or any other threat, without exposing your body," he said. "This technique is used by LAPD, their SWAT team, and this is one of the ways they 'corner,' so they can see what’s around the corner."

And if you don’t have your phone on you, there are other options.

"You can take your head and go quickly around the corner and by doing that and dropping down immediately," said Brown. "You’re coming out of line of sight. What you're doing is biomechanically you’re responding faster than they can respond."

And if you happen to come in direct contact with the shooter, Brown says you can work quickly to disarm.

He showed FOX 2 the technique using Air Guns which are not real firearms.

"He’s going to shoot, if I move," Brown said, lunging to the side of the gun barrel and thrusting his hand to push it away. "And the reason why that worked, is because the human brain takes 2000th of a second to respond to stimulus. By the time he sees me move, I’m no longer in front of the barrel."

For more on the Michigan State shooting, tap here.

There’s also another approach.

"If he’s pointing the gun here, instead of me being helpless I’m going to come up, push the gun down, peel him off by going into the eyes and pulling back. Doesn’t matter how strong they are, they are going to let this weapon go. And now you have the weapon."

He has disarming techniques for pistols too.

"If a gunman has a pistol and it’s a semi-automatic pistol, that means it has a slide on top," Brown said. "The way to stop it from firing is to push to the rear. Anytime you do that it comes out or battery. Another thing you can do is if there is a hammer, you can block the hammer and it cannot fire."

Brown adds that if you are able to get the gun away from an active shooter, you have to get it in a safe place, throw it out or something, so responding police officers don't assume you are the suspect.