ROANOKE, Va. – With mass shootings on the rise, a former Virginia Tech detective teaches church staff how to handle an active shooter.
About 40 people gathered at Hampton Inn in Salem to learn mental preparation and situational awareness to survive an active shooting.
Daniel Hardy, an instructor with Protect His House, said places of worship are experiencing more shootings and are creating more security teams to protect the congregation.
He said a mass shooter’s biggest weapon is the element of surprise.
“If we can have it set in our minds of I am paying attention to what’s around me,” he said. “I am not going to fall in that trap of being panicked and not knowing what to do. I’m going to act. And I’m going to act quickly. You are taking their advantage away from them.”
The three-hour seminar teaches other de-escalation tactics that avoid using a weapon.