I got flamed big time yesterday for pointing out how much higher the death toll was at Ft. Hood than in the 1998 high school cafeteria shooting by Kip Kinkel (two killed), who was stopped by several (obviously unarmed) high school boys. There were an estimated 300-400 students in the cafeteria when Kinkel burst in and started shooting. And actually only one fatality was in the cafeteria — the other was immediately prior, as Kinkel shot somebody in the parking lot as he was going into the cafeteria.
I’m not trying to pin blame on the soldiers at Ft. Hood, but the length of time this went on without the shooter being stopped is worrisome (at least 3 minutes before Munley and Todd arrived, and according to some accounts as long as 10 minutes before Hasan was actually taken down by the armed police officer) raises serious questions about the training they’ve received. These aren’t a bunch of random high school kids; they’re trained soldiers, about to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan from this “soldier Readiness Center”. Facing a 300 to 1 ratio, Hasan really should have been neutralized a lot faster.
In hindsight, somebody should obviously have been assigned to “pack.” It sure doesn’t look like Hasan had any trouble bringing his guns in.
I tend to agree with you.
I heard an on-site soldier say that he thought at first that it was a drill. He was convinced it wasn’t only when he saw blood dripping from a friend. I wonder how much training they get about attacks from WITHIN the ranks? I’m sure they were focused on Afghanistan and Iraq and the hazards there. This was totally off their radar. I guess it would be tantamount to sitting in church and having a parishoner stand up and open fire. Might take a second or two to comprehend the situation.
I agree, I don’t understand this part of the story. It had never made any sense to me.
...according to some accounts as long as 10 minutes before Hasan was actually taken down by the armed police officer) raises serious questions about the training they’ve received. These aren’t a bunch of random high school kids; they’re trained soldiers,...
...By the way, why did it have to fall to a civilian cop to defend enlisted troops?...
I've worked on two Air Force bases and one Army base as a civilian contractor so I can only speak of those installations. On those bases the security was actually contracted out to private companies along with a mix of active duty MP personnel. None of the other active duty military personnel were allowed to carry weapons.
Things go bang, bang, ... and you duck, bang, bang, and you got no implement equal to counter...you duck, cover, you are in survival mode, yours. Come on and get real.
They don’t carry weapons on that base for a variety of reasons given by a number of military experts, including the base commander. But maybe you know more than they do?
Keep in mind Hasan was standing on top of a table. I saw one interview with a victim who did try to stop him and was shot before he could even get close. He was firing down on his victims and they were sitting ducks. Are you saying you could have tackled the guy off the table before he blew you away?