Posted on 11/06/2009 3:26:00 PM PST by Saije
Lessons learned from the horrific Virginia Tech shootings in 2007 are credited with averting an even bigger massacre at Fort Hood, Texas, Thursday afternoon when police officer Kimberly Munley confronted the gunman without waiting for backup and took him down with four shots.
Reviews in the aftermath of the shootings at Virginia Tech, where 32 died, found that first responders' decision to be careful and wait for backup probably cost lives as that gunman moved unchecked from classroom to classroom as law enforcement massed outside.
Those findings had found their way to Fort Hood's Special Reaction Team, which had practiced an entirely new protocol for at least a year before Thursday afternoon's rampage here, in which 13 were killed and at least 28 wounded.
"The lesson from Virginia Tech was, don't wait for backup but move to the target and eliminate the shooter," says Chuck Medley, chief of Fort Hood's emergency services. "It requires courage and it requires skill."
The task on Thursday fell to the petite Ms. Munley, a civilian police officer employed by the Army at Fort Hood. Munley had taken part in intensive active-shooter training during the past year.
One of the first responders, she exited her car and entered the building as shots rang out. She rounded a corner, identified the shooter, and fired four times. He returned fire and hit her at least twice in the legs and once in the arm. She underwent surgery Friday but is said to be in good condition. It's unclear how many other responders were present and firing, but Munley's shots are believed to be the ones that stopped the alleged gunman, Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
Well, in all the coverage I never heard that. I am not hysterical. I’m a little peculiar, but not hysterical.
‘You’ll fight as you train’ is certainly a truism, isn’t it?
Ha! Love it!!!
the only two countries where women are tough fighters....America and Israel.
Okie doke. Things were moving pretty quickly last night, as you know, and so little details drop off after a while. In the same way, in a few days, the media will stop asking if they guy said allahu akbar and they’ll just pretend as if it never happened.
She was taking her car to the repair shop. It says so in the above story.
I hope I get to see Hussein, famously remembered for his “the cops acted stupidly” comment, having to present a medal to this hero cop for taking down one of his Muslim buddies.
isn’t Hasan still alive?
She saved another cop's life back in 2000. Here's the FR link:
Kimberly Munley will be under the watchful eye of a grateful group of fatigue wearing guardian angels.
Yeah, and his "Brother" muzzie is POTUS
I did read that. It's puzzling that many reports, perhaps mistakenly, state that her partner was at the scene also. That's a strange thing to report without also reporting the partner's name, whether the partner fired any shots, whether the partner was wounded, and many other details.
Have you read anything else about other responders? Supposedly there were other responders. One article even mentioned the possibility of "friendly fire".
Virginia Tech, this. Virginia Tech, that. VT is always in the news.
VT Police did not wait. The shooter chained the doors shut and they had to be blown open.
I have been hearing rumors of friendly fire, coming from the media. I suppose the mystery is how a guy with two handguns could shoot 43 people, while eyewitnesses say he was “deliberate” in shooting and sometimes shooting people more than once. If Officer Munley encountered the terrorist outside then why would the victims be subject to friendly fire? Lots of things still don’t make sense and I’m sure it will take a while to sort the facts out.
I'm not so sure that's completely accurate. When the Hmong went nuts in upstate NY earlier this year (maybe it was late last year), the police waited quite sometime before making entry into the building, where of course they found the man dead by his own hand.
And then today, it hasn't been totally clear, but I believe that the first responders waited for some time before making their way up to the floors in question.
Police departments should reevaluate their policy of waiting until reinforcements and SWAT arrive before attempting to make entry. That is valuable time and excess opportunity for the killer to kill more people, IMHO.
Or my favorite, I carry a Gun because a Cop is too heavy.
“As the old saying goes, When seconds count, the Police will be there in minutes.”
Touche. It does take us a few minutes to go on scene. Once there though we try to do our jobs. At least we do in the department I retired from. Did we make mistakes? Darned right we did, but we tried to learn from them so they wouldn’t be repeated.
>”isnt Hasan still alive?”
Nope.
Nope.
From ABC News:
The suspect in the shooting, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was transferred Friday to the Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio. He is reportedly on a respirator, suffering from paralysis, although he is said to be in stable condition.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.