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The wife and I just got back from Gunsite Pistol 350.

We ran through a lot of these scenarios.

The final force on force at 350 was very humbling as you were startled, then had the upper hand, then lost your upper hand, then had to shoot, sometimes under the threat of a pistol acquiring you, sometimes with rounds being fired at you.

The two people in the class who had been targets of gunmen in the past immediately shot the attacker on sight. Everyone else attempted to talk the attacker into compliance and that did not work.

It usually takes 2-3 seconds to process the situation and decide to act.

The usually correct action is to create distance and seek cover.

But even then you may not have time to seek cover. You can only respond.

And - the act of seeking cover can make you a target and because you are not on target and cannot respond before the shooter can acquire you, you are basically defenseless.

So its best to respond while you still have options but in a way to control the situation.

Whatever you do, you must not lose sight of the threat and you must have more options than when you started.

I can't say for sure what I would do because I was not there, but my first take is to drop to a knee using a checkout counter/corner as cover, draw to guard, and observe the situation.

I am then 2/10 of a second away from engaging the gunman and my rounds will not be a threat to anyone else.

If he sees me he will then turn to engage and that will take the clerk out of the threat zone.

The "if he" point is any pressure on the trigger or pointing the gun at anyone else including me.

Calling 911 takes away your gun hand. Turning away loses sight of the gunman. You always face the threat. If I was with family, then I would tell them to get down and then proceed as before.