On the importance of dialing 1911 prior to 911:
In modern times, we know that people shot with handguns have an 85% chance of survival, provided they get medical treatment. The chances are far lower with shotgun or rifle, but even then modern medicine can accomplish near miracles. Given the proximity of most mass shootings to urban medical centers, how do we end up with statistics reflecting dead:wounded ratios opposite of the military numbers? How is it possible that a single person with a hand-held weapon could produce more deaths than non-fatal injuries? The answer is simple: control of the scene.
A murderer who has the crime scene to himself can take the time to shoot or stab every victim again, just to make sure they are dead. That’s been the typical mode of operation for the killers: shoot a group of victims, then backtrack and shoot everyone in the head. The other factor is the exclusion of medical emergency response personnel from the scene, meaning that the victims bleed out before anyone reaches them. Those two factors, combined with fear-driven compliance and resulting close-range shots on non-evading victims (likely the reason why the school attack in Newtown had 27 deaths to one injury), are the reason why murderers with seemingly light weapons are so efficient.
