MARYSVILLE – It’s a grim reflection on today’s society – a seminar at a church about what to do if faced with an active shooter.

Officer Stacey Dreyer of the Marysville Police Department talked about that at the Evergreen Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Sunday.

His topic, called, “Be Prepared, Not Paranoid,” discussed how people need to be ready for such situations because they can happen anywhere.

“It might seem a little paranoid – until it happens,” he said, adding people should always be thinking, “Where will I go if I run into a bad guy?”

Dreyer said he plays the “what if” game all the time. Such as if he goes to a new restaurant, he checks out where the exits are.

“It’s a habit now. It drives my wife crazy,” he said.

Someone in the audience compared it to driving a vehicle. From Day 1 people are taught to think what they are going to do if something happens, always looking for an escape route.

Dreyer said there has always been violence. It used to be called, “Going postal.”

“But Columbine changed my career,” he said, adding there has been more attention on violence once it started happening at schools.

When a tragedy happens, it can take awhile for police and medical help to arrive. So the people who are there are really the first-responders, he said. Most people’s natural response is “fight or flight.” Others might freeze under stress. “You have to take care of yourself” until helps arrives, Dreyer said, comparing it to first aid.

As an officer responding to a shooting situation, Dreyer said his goal is to save as many lives as possible, not do first aid. He recommended people carry a tourniquet because humans can bleed out in 90 seconds. That can help during a car accident, too.

His job is to isolate the bad guy, distract him and then to “stop him from doing what he’s doing.”

People near a shooter have an obligation to warn others by any means. Don’t hear it and explain it away with denial; call 9-1-1, sound a fire alarm, get on an intercom, blow an air horn, something, Dreyer said.

If phones are overloaded, such as during the shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, texting works, he added.

Regarding M-P, he said 220 officers were on scene in the first hour, and it took 4 1/2 hours to clear the scene. Dreyer said even though many students took off all were found. He said he went into one class and every student had a stapler or something to throw if a shooter came through the door. In another class, the teacher was leaning back with feet on the desk, and kids were texting on their cell phones.

He said combining that with an MPD officer being shot the week before, “completely devastated our department. It took a year to heal.”

Dreyer said if trapped in a room, barricade the door. Shooters will likely move on because they don’t want to work; it wastes time.

Also, defend yourself at all costs. “I will cheat to win,” Dreyer said, adding throwing something is a good idea. “You have to do something. You have to give it a try.”

He said shooters are not rational so it’s hard trying to reason with them. “You don’t know what might set them off,” he said. “It depends on their mindset. Don’t get caught in a lie. Don’t argue about things that don’t matter.”

It’s hard to know if a person should act compassionate or tough, submissive or challenging.

“There’s a chance anything could work,” Dreyer said. “But hope is not a plan.”

One of the reasons the church hosted the event is because it has been threatened. While obviously concerned, the group showed a sense of humor.

“Throw a hymnal” if attacked here, one woman said.