'Run, Hide or Fight,' DC Police Chief Advises in Active Shooter Situation

PHOTO: DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier talks to Anderson Cooper on CBS’ ”60 Minutes.” The interview aired Sunday night. Watch a clip from the program below. Photo courtesy of CBS.

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DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier offered up her advice to anyone who finds themselves in an active shooter situation, in an interview that aired Sunday night on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

The interview comes on the heels of shootings in Paris on Nov. 13 that left more than 100 dead across the city, including a concert hall. Among the dead: A young woman from California. The attacks have rattled people around the world.

Anderson Cooper interviewed the DC police chief about what people can do if they find themselves in such a situation, which he said is a “1 in 2 million chance.”

In the DC area, the Navy Yard shooting in 2013 left 13 dead. In 2007, 32 people lost their lives in a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech.

“If you can get out, getting out is your best option,” Lanier said. “If you’re in the position of taking the gunman down, taking him out, it’s the best option for saving lives before police can get there.”

Lanier said that most active shooters shoot their victims in 10 minutes or less and that even “the best police force in the world’ will still be 5 to 7 minutes away.

“It’s kind of counterintuitive to what cops usually tell people,” she said. It’s usually ” ‘Don’t take action, call 911...’ We’ve never told people ‘Take action.’ This is a different scenario.”

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Last week, Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky and a libertarian presidential candidate announced that he plans to introduce the “Defend Our Capital Act,” which would dismantle some of the District’s gun laws and require the local government to also issue concealed weapon permits.

“For too long the Americans who live in and visit their nation’s capital have been prevented from defending themselves and their loved ones,” Paul said in a statement. “No longer should our citizens have to choose between safety or visiting Washington, D.C.”

In the “60 Minutes” interview, Lanier also said that police need to go in immediately when there is an active shooter situation and not wait.

“This is a homicide in progress,” Lanier said in the sit-down interview with Cooper. “You can’t wait for backup, you can’t wait for the SWAT team...you are the only thing that can stop that shooting — you have to get in there and do it,” she said.

Watch a trailer from the interview below and watch the entire interview here.