Review: Surviving a Mass Killer Rampage by Chris Bird

Gun Watch ^ | 2 October, 2016 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

398 pages, paperback, Privateer Publications, 2016

I met Chris Bird at a Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC).  We were sitting next to each other in the front row.  We had both interviewed Vic Stacy, the hero who made hits at 57 yards at the Peach House gun fight. 

Stacy shot the insane killer who was shooting at police sergeant Steven Means from behind cover.  He made the shots with a 6 inch, stainless .357 magnum Colt Python. Not surprisingly, the stories we got were nearly identical.  Chris published his account in one of his books, mine went on Gun Watch. Stacy's story is one of those used in Chris' latest book.

At the 2016 GRPC, I received Surviving a Mass Killer Rampage, published this year.  The research that went into the book is outstanding. The book is extremely informative and easy to read.  There are details you will not find elsewhere, unless you follow Chris' steps and gain access to official records and interview participants.  The details make the book read like an adventure novel. It is hard to put down.

Did you know that at Virginia Tech, Air Force Cadet, Matthew La Porte, in uniform, charged the shooter, only to be shot down?  He took eight bullets.  La Porte received an Air Force commendation, posthumously.

Chris gives a detailed account of the Faculty Administrator Safety Training and Emergency Response (FASTER) course that is wildly popular in Ohio. The course instructs staff to be armed responders, to do triage, set priorities, and use lifesaving first aid after the threat is stopped. It is an intense three day course. A School Resource Officer that attended an advance course made this comment:

"When I came in here, I was adamantly opposed to this. I did not believe in it; I was really, really upset by it. Now I am on board.  I thought I could protect them, but now I see that I need help."

When you read Chris' detailed account of the training, you will understand why the officer's mind was changed.

Chris covers much more than school mass killings.

Chris describes, in detail, the evolution of police tactics on responding to mass killer rampages.  Police realize you need to go in immediately, even if you are the only officer on the scene.  Seconds are lives in these scenarios.

One officer, Justin Garner, of the Carthage, North Carolina, Police Department, did exactly that.  There is no question that he saved lives.  He stopped the killing with one shot at the shotgun wielding murderer from a measured 142 feet. He used a Glock .45.  Garner was near simultaneously fired upon and survived two relatively minor buckshot wounds.

This is the sort of detail that Chris uses to explain the tactics needed to survive these encounters. If you are caught in a mass killing rampage, or need to respond to one, the information may save you and others.

The book is solid, factual, entertaining and extremely well written.  Buy it, read it, pass it around.  Give it to a school teacher or administrator who might be interested.  If they read it, they will likely be the best informed staff on the subject in their school.

You can order the book directly from Chris at Privateer Publications,
or from Amazon.    It is available in paperback for $22.95, or for $18.99 on Kindle.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

[marktwain]

Chris Bird has done an outstanding job of researching this book. You will not be disappointed by it.

[yarddog]

You just never know.

I read a detailed account of the famous Miami shootout in which two FBI agents were killed. The agents made some mistakes which I will not go into but there were two main problems.

The bad guys had either one or two Ruger Mini 14s. The bad guys were killed but kept fighting around a minute after they should have expired. Some men just keep going on adrenaline.

Contrary to what everyone thought, the 9 mms had performed well. Both crooks were hit with none livable wounds. One 9mm bullet tore the aorta off one of the criminals yet he kept fighting for a bit.

[marktwain]

The two murderers/bank robbers were Platt and Matix.

Michael Platt had a mini-14.

Russel Matix had a pump 12 gauge shotgun.

Platt grew up in Yuma, Arizona. I never met him, but I met his brother. I lived next to him for over a year. He told some interesting stories.

[yarddog]

Thanks, I could not remember what the other one was carrying but thought they both had long guns which was a big advantage.

[marktwain]

Matix had little effect on the fight. His door was jammed and he only fired one round of #6 shot.

It is a strange load to use for serious social purposes.

Platt acted like the highly trained and experienced fighter that he was. If his actions had been in the service of his country, he would likely have been awarded a medal.

Unfortunately, his skills were used to murder and steal.

[yarddog]

Quite a few years ago, I read an article by Dave Arnold, now deceased who was a member of the Selous Scouts as well as an elite police unit in Africa.

He had disbursed mobs and investigated the post mortem of their killings.

He said the typical mob will run at the first shot fired. On the other hand he said if they were really fired up and had gotten into a rage, they would kill you and tear you to pieces no matter what you did.

[marktwain]

That could be true of mobs, but these were FBI agents they were up against.

[The FIGHTIN Illini]

Pingaroo

[tumblindice]

Platt was a Ranger, Matix an MP with the 101st before they became scumbags.
The best account I’ve read of this gunfight was written by Massad Ayoob. Platt killed agents Dove and Grogan.
Yeah I’ll look for this on Kindle.