[Massachusetts-NFB] What to do if you are blind and in the midst of an active shooting event

Wed May 13 23:34:35 UTC 2026

Thank you Helen for sharing.

This is a real concern, and taking active shooter trainings for those able to attend can also be helpful. More and more agencies seem to be doing active shooter trainings called ALICE which is a trauma informed approach. It stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, Evacuate. I think it would be good to talk to the organization that does these trainings about how to modify and prepare for the disabled. This training is more useful for indoors, so getting the outdoor tips is great.

Keri

From: Massachusetts-NFB <massachusetts-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Helen Kobek via Massachusetts-NFB
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2026 7:07 PM
To: NFB Massachusetts <massachusetts-nfb at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Helen Kobek <helenkobek1 at gmail.com>
Subject: [Massachusetts-NFB] What to do if you are blind and in the midst of an active shooting event

Hello, folks,

As some of you know (from the news or from the complexity of getting to the Cambridge Chapter meeting this past Monday night), a gunman opened fire on Memorial Drive this past Monday afternoon. Roads were closed in and out of the area. The gunman targeted cars and walkers. Two people were critically injured. The gunman is being held. 

I'm writing this because this gunfire was about a year after another shooting on Memorial Drive, that one I was a nearby witness to, and I witnessed people beginning to run for their lives while the shooting was happening. As a legally blind person, it was hard to run. I was fortunate to have two close friends with me, and I attached to one of them while we fled, and the other called 911. Not every blind person will have a guide right on hand. So we need to be able to function on our own in such situations. 

After the shooting I witnessed, I called the Cambridge Police to ask if they have guidance for what to do as a blind person in the midst of a shooting. They'd never contemplated that question, but here's what they said:

1. Try to discern if you are a focused target. You might know that, if the shooter is coming towards you and threatening you directly. I've been told that shooters generally vocalize while moving around a targeted area. (In the shooting I was witness to, the shooter was yelling at his targets.) If you know or believe you are or could be a target, try to move away from the shooter as quickly as safe. Do not run directly away, but move/run in a zigzag so the shooter has trouble hitting you with gunfire. With a cane or a guide dog, a blind person could be able to move rapidly enough if in zigzag to evade being shot. 

2. If the shooting seems random, and/or you do not have the ability to move on your own with cane/dog, or no one can offer you human guide, drop to the ground and be as flat as you can be. Low, with legs together, arms near your body. Hope that the shooter, especially if the shooting is open air (not in a small room) doesn't notice a low-down body. This is especially likely if the shooter is at some distance. Be face-down so you're not as likely to try to engage with the shooter, or so that if you are crying, the shooter won't hear you as readily. Try not to make noise. But leave space for your nose/mouth to breath. An idea behind dropping to get low is that even if you are not a target, you could get caught in crossfire if you are on your feet. Getting low can be even better than trying to scatter.

In the shooting spree this past Monday, even those on the ground would have been targeted, He was out for blood. So moving skillfully would have been the wise thing. But the shooter was both targeting and shooting randomly around and in the air. In the one I witnessed, getting low would have been wiser. Hard to know with the one this past Monday. 

The Emergency Services department of Cambridge was asked a year ago, when the shooting I witnessed took place, if there could be some sort of training. Nothing has happened. I also asked them to give training on how not to freeze in denial about being near a shooting. I and the folks I was with spent too long sorting whether the popping we heard was gunfire. Finally, after about a minute, one of us said, "We should leave." We could have been shot during that frozen minute.

The suggestion I can add to what was suggested by officials, based on my own freezing, is this: Learn what gunfire sounds like. it often does sound like popping, like firecrarckers. After the shooting I witnessed, I spent time on YouTube listening to different kinds of firearms being discharged: handguns of various calibers, long guns, rifles, shotguns, automatic weapons. I listened to firearms discharge in different settings: outdoors, indoors, small and large spaces. I did this to educated and then to desensitize myself, and I feel more confident now. I did this because the main thing I needed to do in that shooting was to conclude quickly that there was gunfire and take an action - move or drop. 

These are terribly frightening things, but we can help ourselves with know-how, and hope for the best.

Be safe, everyone....

Warmly,

Helen Kobek

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