Mall Shooting in Utah Reinforces Lessons

Witnesses say the 18-year-old man in the Salt Lake City mall shootings calmly shot five people dead and wounded four more before being killed himself in a shootout with responding police.

Wearing a trench coat and carrying a shotgun and a handgun, he killed two 28-year-old women, a 52-year-old man, a 24-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl. Four people were hospitalized — a man and a woman in critical condition and two men in serious condition.

No word yet on how long the situation lasted, but it was resolved when four police officers — one an off-duty officer from Ogden and three Salt Lake City officers — were involved in the shootout with the gunman.

The lessons?

• Remember that an active shooter scenario typically lasts between 4 and 17 minutes -- a long time to have someone walking around cranking off shots.
• You'll be almost completely on your own for that time.
• Citizens who are legally and morally able to carry concealed firearms are almost always in the best position to stop a shooting rampage.
• You should know what to do when you hear gunfire.