By Aug. 4, 2019, Time magazine reported we had witnessed 69 deaths so far this year from mass shootings in the U.S. With today marking the sixth anniversary of the Washington D.C. Navy Yard mass shooting that claimed 12 lives while wounding four others, a book written by one of the severely wounded survivors is most inspiring. Interestingly, the message it shares is applicable to one standing on either end of the gun.
In “Standing Still in a Culture of Mass Shootings,” Jennifer Bennett, then 54, found herself on the wrong end of such a weapon, staring into the eyes of a man in a stairwell of Building 197 in the Navy Yard. Unknown to Bennett, the gunman had already killed 10 people. Encountering her, he raised his shotgun with every intention of recording Kill No. 11.
The message Bennett conveys in her book is secret. Not secret in a classified sense, because Bennett is very open about sharing her message. But secret because of those receiving it, perhaps uncomfortable with what it demands of them and, therefore, choosing not to heed it. In a day and time when material things seem to out-value spiritual ones, it is unsurprising many people will simply choose to turn a deaf ear to such a message.
But in her book, Bennett details an amazing personal account of her experiences that day, and the personal conviction that drove her to survive.
Faced with an immediate, deadly threat, psychologists tell us our minds kick into overdrive, leaving us two options: “fight or flight.”
The first option focuses on aggressively taking an attacker down; the other on identifying an immediate escape route. As Bennett faced the Grim Reaper in that stairwell, she embraced a third option: standing still. This was not standing still in the sense of frozen with fear, but standing still in the sense of self-control, possessing such perfect peace of mind to the extent fight/flight options were never considered.
From the moment Bennett visually engaged the shooter to the moment she was wounded in the stairwell, cut down by a shotgun blast fired only 10 feet away, ripping a hole clearly visible – like that in Swiss cheese – through her upper left arm and chest, she experienced a “Matrix moment.” Like the Matrix movie in which action was slowed down considerably, allowing viewers to observe minute details normal action speed would have denied them, Bennett was given time to capture amazing detail.
As a civilian working most of her professional life with the military, ironically Bennett’s initial thoughts turned to memorizing details about the shooter to later be able accurately to describe him to police. Almost as if she had a camera, she memorized everything about him she could. In doing so, she found she felt no anger towards the man about to cause her grievous bodily harm. Shockingly, she felt compassion for one who, for reasons beyond Bennett’s capacity to grasp at the time, felt compelled to ignore the basic goodness in man to help others, and instead to cause as many people harm as he could. The extent of detail Bennett ultimately provided police astounded them, knowing shock and a fight/flight attitude often left victims confused over specifics.
Despite her love of family, Bennett’s thoughts in the stairwell focused not on her possible imminent death and leaving them behind. Every thought etched on her mind during those seconds before the blast struck her and for the hour-plus afterward awaiting rescue told her she would survive. Her conscious thoughts were just for others. Every thought she vocalized was rational, ignoring her pain and the knowledge she might already have lost her left arm. Based on the size of the hole the shotgun blast had left, she believed her arm was only held in place by the jacket she wore.
Every thought flashing through Bennett’s psyche promoted not only her survival, but that of those around her. In fact, after she and three other unwounded survivors escaped to the building’s rooftop, not knowing if the shooter would soon follow, she gathered them together for prayer. Perhaps the other survivors – the four later dubbed themselves “The Rooftop Gang” – began wondering about Bennett’s frame of mind when she included in her prayers the man who had just shot her, as well as his mother. Why his mother? Because Bennett inevitably knew, later that day, a mother would be receiving a phone call about a son’s death. Most telling about Bennett – who should have been in shock and unable to think clearly – was her ability to demonstrate such clarity of thought as to focus on others.
A very organized person who logically thought projects through in advance before tackling them, Bennett also has a great sense of humor. These elements all came together, although the humor undoubtedly escaped her at a time she experienced her only lapse of logic that day. Realizing she would be evacuated to a nearby hospital, she wanted her medical insurance card. But it was in her handbag which had been shot off her shoulder while in the stairwell. Bennett asked a Rooftop Gang member to retrieve her bag, forgetting an active shooter still remained inside the building. Her logic returning, she accepted the fact the hospital would admit her without it.
The journey Bennett took that day, initially with the Rooftop Gang and later without them when she was whisked away in a basket dangling underneath a rescue helicopter to a hospital where a medical team awaited, was awe-inspiring. One can only marvel at her courage and leadership. Her head surgeon later commented how Bennett even took charge at the hospital upon her arrival. When medical personnel, desperately concerned over the extent of her wounds, were initially hesitant about moving her from the basket, Bennett took the initiative to get out unassisted.
Remarkable as well was the number of miracles taking place from the moment Bennett was shot, through years of surgeries and her recovery – miracles that have all the markings a greater Power was by her side.
While one needs to read her book to tally the miracle chain, the first two occurred Sept. 16.
First, as close as the shotgun pellets came to hitting vital organs, they somehow missed. Had Bennett moved, seeking the fight/flight options, the outcome would most assuredly have been different, taking her life in the stairwell. It was as if an invisible bulletproof vest protected her.
Second, of all the stairwells in Building 197, the good news was only one had steps allowing a rooftop escape from the shooter – and the Rooftop Gang was on that stairwell. The bad news, however, was that the door was always locked – accessible only by security. The miracle was – and nobody knows why – the door was unlocked. As Bennett’s journey down miracle lane continued, this would not be the last door God opened for her.
By book’s end, the reader fully understands the cut of Bennett’s jib. That understanding makes it clear on that September morning, as Bennett looked into the eyes of a killer, she realized they both came well-armed. True, the shooter had a shotgun and the sidearm of the security officer he removed from his body after killing him, but his armament was no match for hers. She was armed with a spiritual alloy molded into her very being – one that the shooter, sadly, had never experienced.
Forged into Bennett’s character was a spiritual steel – the product of multiple generations of loving role models. It included parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. That familial influence imbued her with a strong Christian faith, a love for her fellow man and a steadfast moral and ethical character. A shooter seeking to impose death upon her stood not a chance.
In a way, Bennett’s book is kind of a bible – not necessarily due to its strong religious overtones key to her survival – but a bible for politicians to read who are truly interested in providing a nurturing post-shooting environment in which survivors can repair their bodies and families with lost ones can repair minds. She explains, from such a perspective, the pain of the families mandates promoting the lives and memories of those lost – not promoting a political agenda.
Bennett’s book is a must-read. If for no other reason, it shares details of a visit to her hospital room by a high-profile politician whose motivation was clearly for publicity. His lack of concern for her ordeal was underscored by callous statements made about her faith, stunning all present. Knowing Bennett’s character and personality, however, hospital room observers were not surprised when she quickly put him in his place. The fighting spirit dominant in her battle for survival, reared its beautiful head again as she unfalteringly defended her faith against one preferring it remain “secret.”
Recognizing America today seriously suffers a lack of spirituality and faith, some readers may find themselves at a crossroads accepting what Bennett has to say. Their dilemma is best described by the lyrics of the 1960s song, “One Tin Soldier.”
The song tells the story about two tribes – people of the Mountain and people of the Valley – and a treasure, atop the mountain, held by the former which the latter believes is gold. The Valley people demand the treasure and, despite the Mountain people’s willingness to surrender it, the Valley tribe resorts to violence to claim it. The last lyric explains what happens when the Valley people turn over a stone under which the treasure lies:
“Now the valley cried with anger, “mount your horses, draw your swords”
And they killed the mountain people, so they won their just reward.
Now they stood beside the treasure, on the mountain dark and red.
Turned the stone and looked beneath it; peace on earth was all it said.”
By song’s end, one envisions the Valley people, shaking their heads in disbelief over a treasure having no material value. Bennett’s message to us, however, is that the real treasure lies in the eyes of the beholder who knows what to look for. While the Mountain people’s treasure lacked material value, their tribe lived and died by a code having much greater value.
Bennett’s message to us seeks to create a generation absent of mass shootings and its victims by understanding the treasure before us is there for our taking. That treasure is an alloy comprised of a strong religious faith, a conscience driven by selflessness, not selfishness, and an internal ethical and moral compass always steering us in the right direction. It is from the first of these the others flow. It is this treasure – a life’s code by which to live – that was Bennett’s armor as she stood still in the staircase that September day six years ago today.
Bennett’s message is most timely as, spiritually, America is in serious decline:
- The influence of Christian beliefs our Founding Fathers relied upon to build our great Nation has diminished as schools today refuse to teach them.
- The city of Philadelphia adopted a policy barring faith-based foster-care agencies – which provide perhaps the most stable environment for foster children – from helping them.
- A Washington State high school football coach was fired for holding a post-game prayer on the field.
- Waning cultural Christianity has left attendance at churches in a nosedive, placing many churches on life support.
- Outrageously, YouTube nudges such deteriorating spirituality along, recently informing an advertiser use of the word “Christian” constituted “unacceptable content” (although use of the word “Muslim” is not).
- Americans seem disinterested in hearing what living a good Christian life demands. Yet, ironically, at a time we should be promoting Christian values in our daily actions, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) passed a resolution welcoming nonreligious voters into its party.
World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle observed, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” Unfortunately, living in today’s culture of mass shootings, there may have been many victims who suddenly were in just such a “foxhole,” wishing they had lived a more spiritual life as they subsequently found themselves standing before their Maker.
As in the “One Tin Soldier” lyrics, today we are spiritually a tribal society of both Mountain and Valley people. We all need evaluate to which tribe we belong. There is no doubt, on Sept. 16, 2013, Bennett – standing tall by standing still – was of the Mountain people. Hopefully, by reading her book, others will choose to join her at the mountain top.
