Actually good advice to practice something like this. Pretty smart IMHO.My friends and I tried something after a mass shooting. We, being brilliant 20 somethings, were discussing what to do. Then “armed“ one of us with a nerf dart gun to test our theories. We found it’s really hard to aim and hit anything if everyone grabs anything useful near them and throws it at the “gunman” while advancing. You start ducking and dodging very quickly. Can’t imagine if we started chunking books, or anything heavy. A tennis ball to the nose hurt bad enough, and the eye watering alone did me in.
One never knows the correct reaction because every situation is fluid and dynamic in its own right, and every person reacts differently. It's good to get some real time experience like you guys did. (My smily's quit working for some reason or I'd give it one.)