Watching the videos of the people who feared for their lives because a cowardly gunman, who was 32 floors above the ground and shooting people like fish in a barrel, has made me feel sick this morning. A calculated and planned execution of dozens of people by a crazed person with a rifle capable of fully automatic waves of lead temporarily stole the soul of a community last night. That’s terrorism.

No matter which way you slice it, this is terrorism. We’ve got to get past the point where we are ready to call an act of mass violence “terrorism” only if the assailants are brown or Muslim. You commit a mass shooting, you’re a terrorist. It’s that simple.

Listen to the sounds of the gunfire in that video. Just listen to the firepower behind that weapon. That’s the type of sound that usually covers of the advancement of troops in a combat zone. That’s the type of weapon that you use to spray an area with rounds in order to provide cover for ground troops’ advancement to an objective.

The sounds of popping indicate that the rounds are coming at you. When you hear the popping of a round or bullet, the rounds are coming in your direction.

It’s human nature to have flight or fight kick in. If you ever find yourself in that position, run. Run as fast as you can. Don’t run near walls. Run at least 2 feet off the walls. Bullets, when fired, can hug walls. Stay off the wall some and run as fast as you can. Don’t run near a large group. Don’t run in a crowd. Stay off the crowd some.

When you’re in the heat of the moment and fighting for your life, thinking smoothly and soundly is incredibly difficult. You have gotta act and act quickly because terrorists like this mother fucker last night don’t appear to be stopping anytime soon.

Credit to the first responders whose job it is to move through the chaos and to the sounds of the guns. Human instinct wants to flee from that type of danger, but first responders must set aside their fear and move to the muzzle flashes. The first responders last night prove again that courage is not the absence of fear but rather moving forward in the face of fear.

The first responders here are not just the police officers and swat team members. Be thinking about the paramedics, the firefighters who are doing what essentially boils down to battle damage assessment after a gruesome firefight. The bodies that they are tagging and were tagging arent military fighters on a foreign land; they are concert goers in Las Vegas. These images will stay in their minds for the rest of their lives. That is a tough pill to swallow.

Saying that your thoughts and prayers are with people can be seen as trite and useless. While that may be true, there is certainly a feeling of largescale hopelessness all across the country this morning and no words do the feelings justice. So, we use the words we know. Our thoughts and prayers are with you in Las Vegas this morning.

If you’re in Las Vegas, donate blood as soon as you can.