I can't even think about the Steelers.

Shit is nuts here in the East End right now - this bullshit is unacceptable.

Some messed up people out there, man.

Definitely wasn't ready for it when news of this hit.

You never expect to see it in your town.

It does highlight some lessons a SWAT medic friend I know once told me, though.

- Train yourself to be harder to kill (ie, stay fit, take some first aid and emergency response classes).
- Head on a swivel. Don't just give benefit of the doubt to someone who looks shady. No, you don't need to be confrontational to every person walking around with a hoodie over their head....but you should keep an eye on him/her and have a plan in your head if he/she does do something unexpected.

And finally, the one he repeats to me almost every time I see him, ALWAYS keep a first aid kit handy and know how to use it. Your car, a backpack you carry daily...whatever. If not a full first aid kid, at the very least carry a tourniquet. In situations like this, a single tourniquet can save a life. Yo can buy small and inexpensive ones on amazon. They're super easy to use.

If anyone has any questions on the above, feel free to PM me.

It all sounds like tin-foil hat, black chopper fearing shit right up until you need it and realize you don't have it.

None of this is news to those of us that live in NYC. After 9/11, anybody with a lick of sense has a bug-out kit. Including hydration, first aid, tools, etc. And a head on a swivel should be mandatory for anybody that lives in a city. Period. Even a distracted driver can cost you a leg or worse.

Not to say head on a swivel doesn't work in nature as well. Like bears in Yellowstone. Just spent some time at the Presidio and saw a coyote strolling through the cemetery at mid day, but stranger things have been found in central park. . .

But this asshole is twisted and was enabled by public discourse.

Unacceptable is correct
And it's Time for a few things to change

Thank you, you may save someone's life for posting the above. I am going to start carrying a first aid kit & a tourniquet & learn how to use it.

I've spent a fair amount of time in combat zones and I can only tell you that you should think like you drive...defensively.

Always look around, have an exit plan.

This applies to everything. I never sit in a restaurant with my back to the door/exit or view of the crowd. Not paranoid level, just a cautionary position as I know I can react and do things for my friends to keep them alive. A lot of veterans do the same thing. Thankfully I'm retired, but I've not retired from the mechanics of things.

First aid kits are great, but often not available. Know how to use everything around you - belts, towels, t-shirts, feminine products, wood chair leg, utensils, car jack handle, etc. I'm here to tell you can repurpose almost anything and save a life or prolong for the professionals to get there. Take a first aid course.

Know what structures can protect you - drywall shields you from observations but does little to stop a bullet or shrapnel. Behind structural columns, metal, cinder block, etc., all increase your chances if you cannot escape.

Be prepared to give your life if you think there's no chance to escape. Fear is the biggest killer. Turn whatever you can into a weapon. If you are close enough - salt or any chemical in the eyes. Throw objects, knives, whatever it takes if you truly have no other options. Don't think you'll punch your way out - dig your fingers into eye sockets if possible if you find yourself in close quarters. Be prepared to kill with extreme amounts of fear and adrenal going through your body, use it, your strength will give you a chance.

Waiting to die is not an option.

For sure, man. It's just amazing how people look at things like I listed and have that "Eh, I'll be fine" or "odds are, it won't happen to me" mentality.

I have one friend in particular. Fat and lazy as shit, but still plays rec-league sports with me. Complains after every game how out of shape he is. I ask him why he doesn't do something about it and it's "eh, I don't have time", or one of 100 other excuses. He has a one year old kid and I got pissed at him at one day and asked him what he'd do if someone opened fire in a place where he was with his kid. What's he going to do if he needs to pick up his kid and carry him out of there as fast as possible.

He brushed it off with that typical apathetic attitude.

People need to realize these are very real dangers that are happening regularly. Today's laziness can be tomorrow's reason you didn't make it out, or worse, the reason your kid or wife didn't make it out.

It kills me that people can ignore that.

Don't PM, share it, share the questions and the answers. The more you know, the more likely you will not be a victim or save a life. Never 100%, but increase your odds.

This is good advice, but....Be vigilant, bad guys wear a lot more than hoodies - there is a connotation that needs avoiding here. The things happening in this country right now, I felt it necessary to say.

Good advice to live by.

I've taught self-defense for a long time and it has made me so aware of my surroundings. I'm always analyzing my surroundings looking at foot traffic and volume. Take a few seconds to scrutinize those around you. I see a group of people that look like trouble coming my way, I move.

I keep a first aid kit in my car and my carry bag.
I almost always carry a knife with me.

Best wishes and hope to those who had to go through this tragedy.

I know social media has always been, and always will be, a cesspool.

But watching people use this to bolster their political agendas is incredibly disheartening.

To repeat what I posted from my own account:

"Tragedy is supposed to band people together, not rip them even further apart.

What do you say we take a break from posting pointed political crap, opinions, viral photos/videos, hashtags, or whatever else and actually focus on helping each other heal? I suspect that'd be much more productive and, frankly, necessary."

11 dead so far & 4 of the heroic Pittsburgh police shot. This is the Pittsburgh massacre.

Fucking pure evil. I'm not pro-death penalty, but I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over this shitbag getting the injection.

When I lived in the 'burgh, I lived in Friendship on the East End. I drank shitty beer at the Squirrel Cage and went digging for records at Jerry's up on Murray Ave on the regular. I must have walked by that synagogue hundreds of times.

I just wanted to log on and offer a different message than self-defense:
If you're Anti Semitic enough to go kill a bunch of innocent people, I hope that prior to your getting the chance you get slow growing incurable cancer and that you are racked with pain until you die an excruciating miserable death.



Fuck this guy. POS.

90 percent of the time I have a belt like this on so I roll with a tourniquet almost always. Also I have a pocket knife on me 24 hours a day. 2 little things.

Terrible. And fuck this anti-Semitic piece of trash.

Just fucking horrible prayers to all who lost family and to the police . This guy needs to face the death penality if he is still alive.

It’s a terrible day for Pittsburgh and Squirrel Hill. This is why too many conspiracy theories can make people very dangerous.

Blessings to everyone affected by this shooting of innocent people.

I live out in the boonies. It's a 15 minute drive to the little town I teach in. When I go into town for anything, my .45 goes with me. Now that it's getting colder, I can now just slide it into my coat or vest pocket. My head is always on a swivel whether I'm getting gas, a soda at Sheetz, or grocery shopping at Walmart. I take few chances and always assume something is going to happen that I will need to protect myself or family from. It's keeps me always surveying the stores or areas around me. The only time I get real nervous is when I'm in Sheetz and have to cash out, because my focus is on cashier and not the door and store. I'm not paranoid, but I try to be as prepared as possible. You have to be these days or you have a good chance of becoming a terrible part of the statistics.

It's sad when one of these shootings happens in some other part of the country, but I've lived in Pittsburgh, and it's a real gut punch that it happened there. Very sad day.

So I used to work in Pittsburgh, and there was a McDonald's on the way that I would sometimes stop in. One morning, I stopped in there around 9, peed, and went on my way. Later that day around 11, this black guy decided to take a stroll down the street with a gun and shoot any white person he saw. He went into that McDonald's and shot a number of white people before continuing his stroll. I was glad he didn't decide to take his stroll a couple of hours earlier. I guess you never know, just dumb luck sometimes.

One word of advice...belts generally don't make good tourniquets. Now, I'll say that the double D-loop style in that photo is a bit better than most as they're easier to tighten. But even still, getting that clamped down and secured to the tightness you need for it to be most effective isn't a gimme.

Especially if you're applying it to yourself. If you're applying it to yourself, there's actually a pretty good chance you're not going to get it tight enough to be fully effective.

A tourniquet will actually have a tightener on it that you can operate one handed, making it much easier to use. And in a life-threatening situation where you're losing a lot of blood, panicking, and possibly even going into shock, ease of use is literally everything.

It's not like the movies where you can rip your a sleeve off your shirt, tie it around someone's arm and be done with it. Tourniquets need A LOT of pressure behind them. In an emergency situation, the more the better. Better to be in pain and be sure that blood isn't coming out than to be comfortable.

And to clear another thing up about tourniquets....


The old fear of using them was that cutting off blood to an appendage was a sure-fire way to lose that appendage.

That's not true. You can apply a tourniquet to an appendage for hours without risk of losing it.

If you talk to any combat medic, whether it be SWAT or military (and I've learned from several in both camps, including SWAT, Green Beret, and even a SEAL), they'll tell you that the first thing they do when treating a patient who is losing a lot of blood from an appendage is apply a tourniquet. Doesn't even matter if they think it's life threatening or not. They see a significant quantity of blood coming from an appendage, they're throwing a tourniquet on it immediately. There's very little risk and everything to gain from doing it.