Survival tactics taught at a Clearwater self-defense class are finding an audience across the world.
Chris Sutton's Martial Arts and Fitness classes teaches schools, businesses and people how to respond in an active shooter situation.
A 15-step comprehensive course goes beyond the tips of telling you to run, hide and engage.
Sutton and his partners with law enforcement backgrounds are able to use specific training to teach people important steps to escaping.
"The last thing you want to do is nothing. That creates a victim," said Chris Sutton, owner of COBRA Self-Defense Systems.
"Law enforcement will not be there," said Sutton. “We train people to be their own first responders."
One of the first things to know is understanding reload times for a gunman.
"We base this program on facts. It is not opinion," Sutton said.
"The average individual can reload from 4.5 to over 10 seconds,” he added.
That timeframe is a potential opportunity for people to try and engage with a suspect.
Sutton has broken down the time for how long it takes to try and fight back.
At 40 feet, it takes around two seconds for a potential victim to get to a gunman while he or she reloads their gun.
"We engage on blind corners," he said. “If the shooter is coming around the corner we build a stack team."
The video demonstration can be seen in this YouTube clip during an active shooter course.
Beyond engaging, you can play dead.
"Keep your stomach on the floor, so they can't see you breathing,” Sutton said.
There's even correct ways to exit by covering your vital organs.
“You want to keep your elbow in to protect our vital organs," he said.
It's also important to use anything as a barrier. COBRA is offering two active shooter training courses for free on June 29 and July 6 for the first 120 people.
For more information on the classes and about the training course, click here.
