PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — With yet another active shooter attack, it’s another reminder that this type of danger can strike anywhere, anytime.
“When you go to the mall, when you go to church,” Brian Anderson-Needham, owner and founder of Weapon Brand, said. “It’s not if it’s going to happen, it’s when….we do believe there are more good people out there in the world, we just don’t know who that one bad person is.”
Anderson-Needham spends his days training people across Tampa Bay on how to protect themselves in situations where it’s life or death.
Having served as a Marine and in law enforcement, he recommends that everyone take an active shooter training course, and says there’s much more to know than the common advice of “run, hide, fight.”
“It’s not just hiding in something that they can’t see you, it’s hiding in something that can possibly protect you, and once that position becomes compromised, then we teach you how to close that distance, how to fight out of it effectively get out of that situation, and find help,” he said. “I would explain to them, ‘Look, you may know every single thing that comes out of my mouth today, and if you do, it’s still a refresher, still keeping it at the forefront of your mind.’”
A refresher that Anderson-Needham says could save your life.
In the moments where every second counts, he says you don’t want to have to deliberate about how to keep yourself safe —you’ll want to know.
“When you have this training…it creates some kind of a mental blueprint, and they’re going to have a better chance of surviving that way than just searching for anything,” he said.
Weapon Brand has courses for groups or businesses to get on-site active shooter training as well as individual courses. You can find out more information by clicking here.