Social media is changing how we see an active shooter situation unfold. As we saw on Wednesday, students used social media to show in real time what it was like barricaded in classrooms, hiding from a shooter on campus.
“People are utilizing social media before or in some cases during their violent attack. So yeah, it’s definitely a safety concern,” said Deputy Shannon Wilde with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
She said there are safety concerns associated with using social media in these situations.
“You might be putting off noise or light. If you’re hidden in a room and the person might see that, that creates a danger,” said Wilde. “And there’s always the concern we’re gearing up tactically to make our entrance or take care and stop that person and take care of the threat, and we’re exposed, so it’s definitely a balance for us.”
“I think it could be both beneficial, but bad if the shooter had social media as well,” said Malia Chan, a freshman at Lincoln High School in Portland.
“Especially with Snapchat and Instagram, you can see where people are and that’s something that’s very scary,” said Audrey Montgomery-Gardes, also a freshman at Lincoln High School.
Wilde said students should absolutely feel safe before calling 911 or using social media to document the situation. Because if the shooter does survive, like in the latest case in Florida, the videos can be useful evidence in court.
source:-katu
