I watched a few snippets of interviews of the survivors at Orlando. Within the space of a few minutes both said, “I never thought this would happen to me.”

I saw a video of a lady, who was later killed, catching the first few shots on tape. There was no recognition of what was happening by anyone in her group.

I heard reports that the killer was scouting other locations, like Disney, a couple months ago. Disney supposedly reported this to law enforcement. The killer’s wife reportedly knew about the plan and helped case locations. She did not report this.

First, everyone should accept by now that this absolutely can happen to you. Your very survival depends on that awareness. The first few seconds where you are trying to figure out what is going on are probably the most valuable moments you have to set something in action to save yourself and others. In order to make the most of those seconds you need to always be aware of your surroundings and who is with you in those areas. Notice things. Anything or anyone out of place? Where are the escape routes? What are possible weapons? What would you do if something happened right now? There is no time to think about it when it does happen, so have a plan beforehand.

The primary element in establishing this mindset is first to recognize that threats exist. Ignorance or denial of a threat make a person’s chances of quickly recognizing an emerging threat and avoiding it highly unlikely. Bad things do happen. Apathy, denial and complacency can be deadly. From: A Practical Guide to Situational Awareness – republished with permission of Stratfor.

Second, there are people right now, RIGHT NOW, casing locations to attack. They might be friends with this killer, or they might just be admirers, but don’t fool yourself. One person managing to kill 49 people, wow – that’s pretty impressive, and inspiring, to those who would do us harm. Put any politically correct consequences aside. You must come forward if you have information. Law enforcement can only do so much and they aren’t perfect either. It is up to you to fill the gap.