News

Actions

Watch: Sheriff’s video shows how to survive a mass shooting (WARNING: graphic content)

Posted at 4:35 PM, Jan 30, 2015
and last updated 2015-01-30 18:35:35-05

WARNING: The video below contains graphic content and realistic depictions of mass shootings. While the video aims to educate people about how to survive such an incident, viewer discretion is advised.

By Michael Martinez

CNN

LOS ANGELES (CNN) — A stark re-enactment of a gunman in a mass killing is depicted in a new video by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that says it’s trying “to increase the odds for survival” for innocent bystanders.

The video of three gunman scenarios is so vivid that the authorities posted an online advisory of how “this video contains graphic content of a violent nature. Viewer discretion is advised,” the sheriff’s office said.

The more-than-nine-minute video shows what appears to be blood splatter, actors being shot, and the gunman committing suicide when confronted by a tactical team in a classroom with cowering students.

The “Surviving An Active Shooter” video took two years to produce and shows three vignettes inspired by true life events, according to the sheriff’s department. The sheriff’s office didn’t specify those events. Mass shootings are typically over after 15 minutes or so, and most of them end before police arrive.

“Unlike other videos that are seen on YouTube and other social media websites, the goal of this LASD video presentation is to illustrate very realistic portrayals of these rare, but violent attacks,” the sheriff’s office said.

“LASD’s use of special effects and realistic scenarios draw the viewer’s attention to personally connect with the true life portrayals,” the agency said.

The video provides advice and guidance to civilians on how to save their lives and those of others through “cover and concealment, location awareness, and self-defense.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2015 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.