Sobreviviendo a un tirador activo

Gente práctica, los anglosajones. Como la acumulación de eventos de asesinatos en masa en los EEUU adquiere ya proporciones epidémicas, el Departamento de Policía de Los Angeles ha producido un didáctico video de casi diez minutos de duración titulado: “Sobreviviendo a un tirador activo”. Te lo cuento por si te vas de compras a Miami, ¿viste? Basta de sanatear sobre las razones de la violencia o pavadas por el estilo. Tené siempre una pala a mano.

El video se puede ver acá: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFQ-oxhdFjE&feature=youtu.be

Y ahora pasemos a la nota tal como la cuenta Russia Today:

Título: LA Sheriffs share ‘Surviving an Active Shooter’ video in wake of San Bernardino violence

Texto: The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department made a Hollywood-like video earlier this year, but it’s gaining popularity now in the wake of the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. It’s educational but graphic, and viewer discretion is advised.

It took volunteers, police, and film professionals two years to make “Surviving an Active Shooter,” a high-quality low-budget video meant to prepare the public for such an attack. In less than 10 minutes, the mini-movie gets right to the point, while also touching the heart.

“We wanted to make it realistic. We wanted to affect people’s emotions because that’s how people remember things,” Sergeant Harry Drucker told KABC upon its release in January.

Unlike regular instructional videos, the lessons in “Surviving” come from actors and a sci-fi sounding voiceover. Scenes from college campuses, mall food courts, and work environments are inspired by real events.

The blood and intensity depicted in the video necessitate the warning: “This video contains graphic content of a violent nature. Viewer discretion is advised.”

The top tips from the movie for potential active shooter victims? Get out, remain calm, identify the exits, and move behind some furniture. Sometimes that’s all that’s needed, it says. Next, the video tells the viewer to help others when it’s safe to do so, and once a new location has been reached, to secure it by turning off lights and barricading or locking the door.

When none of those tactics work, you must defend yourself, the video advises. Police may still be far away – possibly 15 minutes out – so creativity will come in handy, the video cautions. Find an improvised weapon like the shovel or fire extinguisher shown in the video. Use it to block the attacker’s sight, harm their breathing, or disarm them.

ADDENDA:

El post anterior nos recordó una curiosa noticia aparecida hace apenas unos días: en la ciudad de San Francisco, también en California, han aparecido una serie de extraños bates de béisbol atados con cadenas a diferentes postes y barandas en la vía pública. En su extremo, los bates tienen adheridos pedazos de metal, tornillos y demás elementos. ¿Una invitación a usarlos? ¿Una especie de “hágalo usted mismo, agarre un garrote y úselo”?

El humor amargo que dejan traslucir estas apariciones sugiere que se trata de algún tipo de proyecto artístico. Algún chico despierto que les dice a sus conciudadanos: “Vamos, reventémonos de una vez; acabemos con todo; volvamos a la Edad de Piedra”, o algo así.  

Vayamos a la noticia en cuestión, según la cuenta CBS News:

Título: WEAPON-LIKE BASEBALL BATS FOUND CHAINED TO POLES THROUGHOUT SAN FRANCISCO

Texto: SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco police are trying to figure out who's responsible for chaining baseball bats to street poles across the city.

Police in the Parkside neighborhood found one of those bats. It's a scene that was repeated more than a dozen times Thursday. In some cases, the bats also had nails protruding from them.

The bat at the Parkside location looked like a pipe bomb. Officers cleared the area and brought in the bomb squad. It's a mystery as to why these weapon-like items were placed across the city.

"We thought it was possibly an explosive device. As you can see we evacuated the area," said San Francisco police Lt. Nick Rainsford.

Someone called San Francisco police about the baseball bat chained to a pole at 19th Avenue and Buckingham Way. It's sawed-off with a square piece of metal attached.

"This was kind of an anonymous call. It was a little different from the rest," Rainsford said.

More than 15 bats chained to poles have been located across the city. Gerrie Burke snapped a picture of a bat near Mission and Rolph streets earlier in the day.

"This is a little stranger than normal," San Francisco resident Gerrie Burke said. "So, we called the cops just in case and like two cars showed up immediately and said that was the eleventh one of the day."

Many of the bats looked alike.

"There were bolts in this thing. They had drill holes in it. They knew what they were doing. Whoever did this put it together, this was not put together in an hour," Burke said.

The bomb squad X-rayed and cleared the bat along 19th Avenue. Police have no idea who's placing the would-be weapons, or why.

"Art project, freak people out, or a promotion or something," Burke said.

Online forums show people how to make similar bats. They're used in movies and video games featuring zombies. Real weapon or prop is anyone's guess.

"It's not a really funny joke it's a big waste of police resources," Rainsford said.

The bats are being taken as evidence. Barring the zombie apocalypse, the person responsible could face charges.