Gunman at local middle school yesterday

[Darrell KSR]

My son had soccer practice yesterday at an indoor soccer facility at 6pm in Chelsea. Three of the players on his team attend Chelsea middle school, where a gunman appeared at 3:10pm yesterday and took some students hostage at gunpoint.

The school resource officer (well, a deputy with SRO training--hired at the school since the shooting in Newtown) and other Shelby County deputies apprehended the gunman at 3:30pm without any shots being fired and nobody was injured. In addition, the school's P.E. teacher was hailed as a hero, as she alerted the school immediately via radio of a 911 situation, locker room, allowing lockdown and protection.

I was talking at practice last night to one of the parents whose three children attend the school. Her daughter is in the same grade as the students who were taken hostage, but she was not one of them. She obviously knew the students who were, and they were badly shaken--but safe, uninjured, and will recover.

Scary world we live in. Reminds me a little of a story Keith has told of their school's SRO also diffusing a situation very much like this one. I'm glad some schools have those. I know it's not everybody's solution, but it may have saved lives yesterday here.

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/02/..._gunman_c.html

[Doc]

Wow, scary stuff.

[CitizenBBN]

If armed security is a good idea for banks and jewelry stores, it's a good idea for schools. No doubt having kids running around requires an extra level of safety for whoever is protecting them, but we can make that training happen and pay that bill.

It's not dismissive of these horrors, but I wish I had the historic data to wonder if these things are on the rise over the last 200 years on a per capita basis or not. So many kids, so many schools in this country, so many families with so many domestic issues. Is it correlated with the breakdown of the family unit? Some other psychological or cultural condition that has changed? Or has it really changed at all or do we just know about them now and have such a huge sample size compared to 100 years ago?

I have no idea, but I'm VERY worried about the copycat scenario playing out here and while we've hummed and hawed about guns what we haven't done is put more security around our schools. Even as a temporary "National Guard" type response until some other action is taken isn't that a really good idea?

We have a huge number of highly trained current and retired law enforcement officers and servicemen who no doubt would answer such a call and immediately put seasoned, responsible protection in place.

[BigBlueBrock]

It's great that everything turned out OK, but just by the fact that he made it inside the school and to the locker room means that if he'd been intent on killing them, instead of just taking hostages (IMO, he was trying to commit a suicide by cop), they'd be dead.

[Darrell KSR]

It's great that everything turned out OK, but just by the fact that he made it inside the school and to the locker room means that if he'd been intent on killing them, instead of just taking hostages (IMO, he was trying to commit a suicide by cop), they'd be dead.

You never know, BBB, and I don't agree with you at all. He was unstable. He was just as likely to prolong their agony before killing them as he was in your scenario.

Raw guess, a matter of life or death, involving an unstable man with a gun. 5 students could be dead as easily as any scenario. Your guess speculates as to the logic of an unstable man. That's seriously dangerous.

Sent using Forum Runner. All typos excused.

[BigBlueBrock]

You never know, BBB, and I don't agree with you at all. He was unstable. He was just as likely to prolong their agony before killing them as he was in your scenario.

Raw guess, a matter of life or death, involving an unstable man with a gun. 5 students could be dead as easily as any scenario. Your guess speculates as to the logic of an unstable man. That's seriously dangerous.

Sent using Forum Runner. All typos excused.

I'm not saying the SRO didn't help in this particular situation. That would be stupid because obviously he prevented what could have been a worse situation.

[KeithKSR]

I'm not saying the SRO didn't help in this particular situation. That would be stupid because obviously he prevented what could have been a worse situation.

I know another instance of SROs protecting kids does not fit with your agenda. Schools with SROs do not have mass murders. A lot of schools already have SROs following a Clinton initiative prior to his leaving office.

[BigBlueBrock]

I know another instance of SROs protecting kids does not fit with your agenda. Schools with SROs do not have mass murders. A lot of schools already have SROs following a Clinton initiative prior to his leaving office.

If the guy in Darrell's OP had been intent on just shooting the first people he'd came across (as was the case with Sandy Hook), those five girls would be dead, the PE teacher may be dead, and there's nothing that single SRO could have done to stop it. That SRO prevented a hostage situation from escalating - Great! More power to him. But we were lucky in this case that the gunman only took hostages and didn't just shoot them as soon as he laid eyes on them.

[jazyd]

Darrell glad the kids are okay.

Citizen I think we are seeing alot of copycats right now from mentally ill people who see what others have done. The Feds and states have cut over $1 billion in funding for mental health. The blog from the mom the night of the hook shooting still rings in my mind. Her son is just like Adam and she needs help and so. Many answered the same way. No amount of gun laws are going to stop someone who is mentally unbalanced. Politicians prefer giving money to those who sit on their butts collecting welfare while those who need help with their mental problems don't get it and a few committ murder. And the liberals come out of the woodwork blaming you and I because we own guns for hunting, protection, and for fun. I guess another useless 20,000 gun laws that are not enforced are the answer. 500 are killed in Chicago in a year and not a peep from ObAma