I came across a jarring statement. If you have never fired a shotgun it might not have stood out to you but it shows how ignorance can cost lives. One if the reporters wrote this,
'There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload.'The key point is this, the killer had to stop and reload. That is a process that can be slow and difficult in a shotgun. Most shotguns carry three or five rounds and after that you need to force the new shells through a hole on the side. It does not always go well. Perhaps this guy had his shotgun well broken in and it went like clock-work. The key is that at that moment the people hiding under the desks waiting for the police to arrive had a chance to deal with the problem. They didn’t. They stayed in hiding hoping that the next person shot would not be them.
Think back to the guy who shot up the Wafflehouse. He was taken down by an unarmed man who went for him while he was reloading. Lives were saved by someone with a little bit of courage. Okay, someone with a lot of courage. He did not huddle down while the killer prepared for the next round of mayhem. This could probably be said of most mass shootings.
By all reports the police were on this very quickly. They did their job and I have read no reports of them hiding behind their cars while the shooting continued like happened in Florida. It still wasn’t fast enough to save any lives. I don’t want to be too harsh on the guys under their desks. Who knows. I might have been one of them. What we need to learn is that it is not always the safest place to be when a killer is intent of killing.
I hope I never need to demonstrate the courage needed in this event but I hope the lesson comes home if I ever face such a threat.
homo unius libri
I've always Thought that if everyone would just stand up and throw their chairs at a shooter, THEN tackle him, things would turn out far different.
ReplyDeleteWhen the school officials were trying to get the kids to hover in a corner I would explain how that might not work out too well. I would ask if they knew what I would do if a guy with a gun came through the door. I would explain that the first thing I would do is throw a desk at him. Maybe we should put you in charge of school security.
ReplyDeleteGrace and peace