As it happens, you are caught up in a shooting. When you hear the first shots, you take cover behind something and are not hit.
When the shooting stops, not 6 feet away, you see a person lying in a pool of blood, not moving. You recognize this person. You found this person contemptible beyond words, never had a good thing to say about them and did in fact think on more than one occasion that the world would be a better place without them in it.
As you look over the carnage, seeing at least three other people who are wounded and/or never getting up again, how will the death of this other detestable person impact your feelings about this incident?
Second scenario:
The shooting stops and you see and recognize this person bleeding from the thigh. There is a chance that you could get your belt around their leg in time to save them, if you do it right now, without hesitation. But you have no time to check whether the shooter is not just reloading at this moment. Do you possibly risk getting shot to try to save this person? Does it take you too long to decide?
Third scenario:
You see and recognize this person. A few feet beyond him is a wounded stranger. You might be able to save one of them, but not both. How do you decide? How does what the stranger looks like affect your decision?
In any scenario I’d wait a few moments to see if the shooter had moved on or is still active, whether or not it’s possible to take them down. If so, proceed to if not, wait until the area is clear and tend to the wounded depending on severity of the wound first. If similar wounds, assist the younger person first, male or female, tend to the female first. See who’s losing or has lost the most blood, etc. Doesn’t matter about race, ethnicity or garb/clothing, or their attitude or issues with you, a person is a person.
Second Scenario Specific: There is always some time, and doing something is always better than doing nothing, check surroundings first.
Third Scenario Specific: Doesn’t matter what they look like, just what the wound looks like.
It would likely happen so quickly that you would need a minute to get your bearings but depending on who you are it should come naturally (I.E. Checking on a child before an adult/chest wound before a shoulder graze). In a word, Triage.
I confess I might have a “Well, so-and-so’s death was the silver lining of the incident” feeling about it. Wouldn’t be the right way to think of the shooting, but I might feel that way.
I’d still first check to see if the shooter is in fact down. Especially if his shooting just stopped abruptly but there weren’t other accompanying noises (i.e., a SWAT team in the area) that would indicate WHY the shooting stopped. Need to make sure he was/is actually neutralized first.
How detestable are we talking? Like, Trump detestable, or just annoying back-stabbing coworker detestable? If we’re talking Trump-level detestable I’d call it silver lining and scan it quickly for potential makeshift tourniquet materials (belt, shoelaces, etc.). He bleeds out, or is at best the last person seen to–maybe his body weight is useful for maintaining pressure on someone else’s wound. If it’s annoying coworker he gets triaged like any other stranger.
Tourniquet is not hard to apply, I do that while keeping a couple eyes peeled. If shooter turns back up I disappear–alive I am a potential asset to the injured, dead I am no use at all. I suppose it’s fighting the hypothetical to say, “I look to see whether shooter has wandered off or if he’s just fumbling with the reload” but that the truth. There is no point in drawing attention to myself if he’s still interested in my area.
a) It doesn’t. Criminal acts are criminal no matter who the victim is or how much I may personally detest them. I learned this from way back with my Dad who hated pretty much everything JFK did but mourned with the rest of the country when he was shot.
b) Possibly even while active shooting is happening, I get my belt off and try. Probably. I would hope. The decision would be made in seconds and I would stick by it once made but again its as much training and upbringing on my part as anything else.
c) I would decide based in a fast assessment of the wounds and what I could do to help. I could put pressure on a sucking chest wound but I would have a better chance with a heavily bleeding wounded limb or possibly a wound across the neck or head. How they look or how I feel about them as people isn’t part of the equation.
Not in terms of shootings but more multiple vehicle accidents I’ve faced situations somewhat like these. I’m not sure what I’ve done was always the right thing as people would view it but I’m comfortable with what I’ve done.
If there’s an active shooter I’m trying to save myself, by fleeing, hiding, or worst case scenario, defending myself. I’d love to say I would sacrifice myself for others, but that would just be an empty internet boast.
If I knew that the shooter wasn’t a threat, like I saw him dead from a self inflicted wound, I would try to keep a wounded person alive. I understand pressure is better than a tourniquet, but I’m not trained. The person would have to be really despicable for me not to do it, like a murderer himself. I would try to keep Donald Trump alive.
If there was a person I really disliked and a stranger and I could only help one I would probably help the stranger. Their looks have nothing to do with it.
eschereal is correct. Also adult men are biologically more likely to be larger and have more muscle mass and slightly more blood volume, so that may give them a small edge on survival and the potential for the woman to be pregnant (but not showing) makes them a priority. Just my opinion of course.