The armed officer was not at the site when the firing started.
He had to travel to the building, find out where the shooter was, and confront the possibility there was more than one shooter.
He likely had a firearm holding about ten shots. The shooter could easily pick him off at a distance, It would have been a lot harder for him to hit the shooter vs the shooter hitting him.
Add to this the location of the shooter in relation to where the officer entered the building. He may have been at one entrance hoping he would exit there, but the suspect left via an alternate route.
We don’t know what the hallways were like, how many kids still on campus and in the background of many possible shot scenarios.
Folks, we weren’t there.
Everyone down there is covering their ass. The police are. The school officials are. The public placement agency is. Counseling services are. The courts likely are.
So some of these entities are now trash-talking the officer on site. Who could have seen this coming.
To my way of thinking, there’s a whole hell of a lot of talking and insulting going on my folks who should be too embarrassed to open their mouths at all on the topic.
This officer may or may not have been able to do anything.
I have seen several people touch on the fact some folks sacrificed their lives. Yes they did. They were caught in the situation and would have likely died no matter what, and they tried to make a difference.
This officer was not caught with no escape route, and he is not required to walk into a situation where he may not be able to affect a solution to the problem.
Suicide is not a job requirement, and well meaning attempts to take down the perp may in fact result in other deaths that may not have taken place.
If this guy tried to enter the crime scene and get the drop on this guy, the guy could have fired more shots at him, and hit other students so more than 17 would have died.
We cannot know all the loose ends here, and it gets really tiresome watching some arm chair quarterbacks act as if they can.
The stampeded to denigrate this guy reveals people to be extremely ignorant.
Sheriff Israel said Peterson was standing outside the school building while the shooting was going on. Four minutes of the six Cruz was in the building.
You always make clear posts. Thanks for that.
“Everyone down there is covering their ass. The police are. The school officials are. The public placement agency is. Counseling services are. The courts likely are.”
Good post. Add the FBI and the surrogate parents. Cruz was a flashing red light for years. Now everyone has found a convenient scapegoat to point at...He was just the last guy to fail to do anything.
Other posters mentioned some things I want to add here.
First I’ll mention that local police departments would send out as many officers as they could break away to this crime scene. If it’s a small area, they would pull in officers from nearly departments, possibly the local police and sheriff’s department officers.
If one guy could handle this type of situation, local agencies would only send out one officer on these calls.
There is also the issue of additional gunfire if the shooter gets into a firefight with this officer. If the security officer bursts into a room, he’ll likely face a firefight with students in the background. He could kill more students trying to save them.
Any shooting outside the room might kill other students in nearby room, above and below. Kids in the hall and even outside could be exposed.
This is not as easy a call as some would like to think it is.
Further, another poster mentioned the former foster parents and the FBI. I forgot them both. There’s the local D.A. who should have known this guy on a first name basis too.
There were plenty of departments and people who let these kids down, and frankly they let this security officer flap in the breeze on this also.
Now public officials are shooting their mouths off about the security person.
Who is in a position with clean hands down there?
N O B O D Y !
Post 46, I agree with your analysis of the situation. No public employee is required to run into a building with an active shooter, by himself, for this is not what SWAT officers would do, they go in as a team. I will not armchair quarterback. Bottom line, we must begin a building program to change every public school building into a fortress school. The Republicans should make this an issue, give grants to every school district so they can do what my school district did about five years ago, build a new high school that is all contained in one multi-story building with bulletproof glass and high-end security, plus its own police force with guns. Then they tore down the old campus style buildings. Safety and jobs.
Thank you.
I said essentially the same thing this afternoon. Impossible to cover that huge school campus and get inside the right building, the right floor, at the right time, when the assault itself was over in six minutes and the deputy knows nothing with clarity. Is the shooter moving from place to place? Is there more than one shooter?
So Dana Loesch said tonight on HANNITY, even after local officers screamed to the school, it took them FOUR MINUTES before even THEY entered the building.
Are they suspended, as well?
Yea he was out having coffee and a doughnut!
We cannot know all the loose ends here, and it gets really tiresome watching some arm chair quarterbacks act as if they can.
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This is what you are arguing? That it was his job to be useless?
He is the one guy with a gun. And he is trained to use it.
So what if he only had 10 rounds?
What would you be saying if it was one of your kids that got killed at that school?
Not buying it.
Making up excuses that he withdrew tactically because he could have killed more people sounds like something CNN would say to blame the NRA.
One could easily say he could have killed the shooter in one shot and saved 17 people. He knew the building, he knew the exits and entrances, and where he could get cover. The problem was, he didn’t even try.
He had a weapon and was trained, he took the job, he knew what was required and knew the risks. It is not a clerk’s job. You are issued a weapon for a reason and you have been through the situation many times, in drills and in your mind. It is combat, and he very well knew he may be called to perform it. None of this is a surprise.
He didn’t even try.
No one wants to die. No one wants to do something stupid, like run into the unknown. But if you don't, who will? This is why some soldiers get a medal and others don't. My father got the distinguished flying cross with 4 oak leaf clusters in WWII. Everything he did was voluntary. He was a belly turret gunner and a bombardier on a B-24. He would have gone in and killed the bastard and spit on his carcass. Some cops are shot in the back of the head eating donuts. Being safe doesn't always save you. This is why someone does something completely heroic and his superiors write him up for going around protocol. You can do the "right" thing, or save lives. He could have very well run into an ambush, but he could have shot the SOB in the face. His choice. I have a feeling, the choice he made is going to "bother" him for awhile.
If the cop knew he was ISIS, maybe he might wait for backup. Knowing he was a pimple faced kid, he probably would have pissed himself seeing a veteran cop coming at him guns abazin.
The Sheriff blasted Peterson after seeing video and reading Peterson’s own report of his actions during the shooting.
Yeah, the Sheriff may be covering his own butt to some extent, but it sounds to me that Peterson’s actions were not excusable.
“The stampede to denigrate this guy reveals people to be extremely ignorant.”
Amen.
My cousin, a retired CHP officer and state police captain, told me that all training says, when you’re totally outgunned, you take cover and call for help.
Every cop and retired cop on this board can verify that.
Of course, all cops have the option to risk it...suicide that is...but none are expected to.
9mm vs AR-15 is not even close enough to warrant a laugh.