• We are now running on a new, and hopefully much-improved, server. In addition we are also on new forum software. Any move entails a lot of technical details and I suspect we will encounter a few issues as the new server goes live. Please be patient with us. It will be worth it! :) Please help by posting all issues here.
  • The forum will be down for about an hour this weekend for maintenance. I apologize for the inconvenience.
  • If you are having trouble seeing the forum then you may need to clear your browser's DNS cache. Click here for instructions on how to do that
  • Please review the Forum Rules frequently as we are constantly trying to improve the forum for our members and visitors.

Mall in Kenya; Could it happen here?

SFCRetired

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2008
Messages
1,764
Location
Montgomery, Alabama, USA
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/24/kenya-prompts-quick-reaction-from-some-us-malls/

"Shopping malls and other soft targets in the United States should increase security measures and update emergency response plans in the aftermath of the Kenyan mall massacre that killed at least 72 people, experts told FoxNews.com."

I suppose that the fact that the malls are holding drills and giving their mostly unarmed security more training is supposed to give us lots of warm fuzzies. When it happens here, you can look for more strident "Ban those evil guns" calls from our elitist politicians. Never mind that one of the people in Kenya who saved many lives was an armed, off-duty member of the SAS.

The article pretty well predicts a copy cat incident in this country. When and where is anyone's guess. Most malls, as far as I know, do not allow carry of any sort.
 

wardtom084

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2010
Messages
40
Location
Robbinsville NC
This would be easy to do in the U.S. At a local walmart some 5 years ago they had an explosion and to this date they have no suspects. They had taken one of the little Coleman gas canisters, cracked it open and it eventually ignited by one of those little short candles that you keep food warm with. Even with all of the cameras they have they never found anyone that they could say did it. I could see something like this happening in walmart as there is no one at the door anymore. You know those big Rubbermaid containers. Return several and have one that is not empty, don't go to the return counter but don't stop there. It is just a matter of time.
 

Gil223

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2012
Messages
1,392
Location
Weber County Utah
It has already happened in the USA, just not with the extreme numbers of perps and vics. There have not been any protracted standoffs that I can recall, but there have been random shootings in several malls over the last 20 years. Several have been stopped by armed LACs also. With the growing numbers of Muslims immigrating, and the call for jihad in the USA, such a scenario in a highly populated area is - sadly - not outside the realm of possibility. :( Pax...
 

sraacke

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Messages
1,214
Location
Saint Gabriel, Louisiana, USA
It's not just malls which could be targets. I work for a large health system with 2 hospitals and numerous clinics and specialty offices. My job is Unarmed security. None of the security officers at our facilities are armed. One of our two hospitals pays for a police officer to be on duty at the Emergency Room area. Other than that we are left with our radios and keys and calling 911 like everyone else. Our Security Manager is the former Chief of Police for the city. He knows the threat and has even mentioned that hospitals, maybe ours, could be the target of an attack. Still, while a competing hospital system has decided to arm all of it's security officers at all of its hospitals we are still unarmed. Oh, sure, we have a No Weapons policy and if anyone comes in to shoot up the place I guess my job would be to calmly inform them that guns aren't allowed on the property and to please stop killing people. Other than that our hospitals are 5 story tall shooting galleries until the police show up.
 

mikeyb

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2013
Messages
554
Location
Bothell
There are lots of "soft" targets. People are sheltered into thinking "it can't happen here."

1. Malls & Big Box retailers
2. Schools
3. Theaters
4. Sporting events; pro and youth
5. Concerts
6. Mass transit/ferries/subway

If you want to really strike fear into America, this is what you hit. Not 100-story buildings. Not military bases or the FBI. If you want to cripple America, you take out the infrastructure. Power. Transportation. There's absolutely no way we could ever police our nation's infrastructure enough to prevent a massive hostile act.

In my neck of the woods (PNW), a cargo ship just needs to dump a bunch of containers off into Hood Canal, ram the bridge, and scuttle the ship. That eliminates the usefulness of Bangor Naval Base and any subs at the dock. A couple other ships to cripple the Everett base and Port of Seattle. A couple of well-placed moving vans and boats on the area bridges will cripple transportation routes. A few intrepid hikers can cut power to the region. Effort could be minimal to disrupt power generation- a small plane, parasailer or two. When you remove the preservation of life of the agent (terrorist) from the equation, as suicidal bombers have done, almost anything is possible.
 
Top