Reading the Threat: Recognizing Pre-Attack Indicators

Most violent encounters don’t come out of nowhere. People show patterns first.


“Reading the Threat” is our student manual on pre-attack indicators—behavioral cues and environmental patterns that often appear before violence. This page offers the public summary.

What Are Pre-Attack Indicators?

Pre-attack indicators are observable behaviors that suggest someone may be preparing for aggression, such as:

  • Hiding the hands or repeatedly adjusting the waistband

  • Fixating on a person, object, or path

  • Testing boundaries and personal space

  • Shifting weight or coiling the body before movement

  • Repositioning to gain advantage or block exits

  • Loitering without clear purpose in vulnerable areas

No single cue is “proof,” but clusters of them tell you it’s time to leave, reposition, or prepare to defend yourself.

How We Teach Students to Use This

The manual helps students:

  • Understand context and baseline behavior in different environments

  • Notice anomalies without becoming paranoid

  • Respond with distance, repositioning, and better sightlines

  • Avoid confrontations instead of walking blindly into them

  • Combine this with de-escalation and legal concepts from our other manuals

Civilian-Focused Guidance

Unlike law-enforcement-only training, this material is tailored for:

  • CCW holders in everyday clothes

  • Parents and spouses managing kids in public

  • People moving through parking lots, gas stations, ATMs, and normal life

The emphasis is always on avoidance, early exit, and lawful self-protection, not chasing or confronting suspects.