Posted on 04/26/2007 11:57:24 AM PDT by Uncledave
The Virginia Tech massacre has spawned countless questions: Everything from why would student Cho Seung-hui gun down 32 fellow human beings, to why was campus security not able to prevent him from committing the deadliest mass-shooting in U.S. history.
Three of the questions – all related – posed to me have been: Why didn’t some of the students rush Cho? Why didn’t someone tackle and disarm him? Where were the likes of those brave souls of United Flight 93 who made the decision to “Let’s Roll” on September 11, 2001?
First, to the third question: The brave souls were there at Virginia Tech, and they rose to the occasion on April 16, 2007. But like those of Flight 93, bravery wasn’t enough.
Now to the first two questions: It’s easy to Monday-morning quarterback about what any one of us would have done in similar circumstances. It amazes me the number of people who have told me, they “would have rushed Cho.” And they “would not have just sat there and let him do what he did.”
But make no mistake, no one really knows what they will do under fire, until they are in fact under fire. And like all combat actions, there are tactical variables at play that often carry more weight than any combination of courage, quickness, and reason ever will. Not that C,Q, and R don’t matter: They do, and lives are nearly always saved because of them. But they are usually not enough to save everyone in the face of a determined killer or killers.
Let’s consider a few of those tactical variables in the case of the Virginia Tech massacre.
Aside from being armed with two (easily reloadable) semi-automatic pistols with plenty of ammunition, the shooter, Cho, had countless advantages as he entered each classroom:
1) Cho possessed the elements of both surprise and shock: The latter includes terror, which can in many instances physically, mentally, and emotionally paralyze the victims.
2) Cho was in close-enough quarters – with few exits – that his victims would have found it extremely difficult to escape: In fact, he was – in many cases – positioned in front of the only door in a given classroom.
3) In almost every classroom, Cho’s field of fire would have been between 45 and 90-degree angles, affording him complete coverage of every space in the room at any one moment.
4) Cho’s victims would have had no cover (physical protection from Cho’s bullets) and virtually no concealment at any time during the attack.
5) The small, terrible space between the doorway - which Cho would have entered with guns blazing – and the groupings of desks where the victims would have been sitting, would have been the deadliest space in the room. For a student to rush Cho, the student would have had to immediately overcome the shock of the attack, unhesitatingly bolt from his or her desk, and charge exposed and unarmed directly across the deadliest space in the room to the source of the killings. This would have been a wholly unnatural act for anyone (I’ll explain this in a moment), yet we may never know if one or two victims actually did do this.
6) The charging, unarmed student would have had no way of knowing whether or not there were more unseen gunmen following behind the visible shooter, Cho.
7) Cho was a fanatic, and prepared to die in his own attack.
8) Most of the victims were young, and probably none of them had any combat training, much less experience under fire: The exception being Dr. Liviu Librescu, the 76-year-old professor and Holocaust survivor who sacrificed himself for his students.
Twenty-five years ago as a Marine infantryman, I remember my squad constantly running immediate action drills: the actions taken in response to an ambush while on patrol.
We were always taught to counterattack directly in the face of the ambush, quickly closing the gap between us and the enemy, and in doing so, attempt to gain fire superiority by shooting back.
We practiced the immediate action drills over-and-over for two reasons. First, if in the event of an actual ambush we were to have sought cover or attempted to run (the natural human reaction), we would have been shot to pieces and the squad probably wiped out. Second, if we didn’t practice the immediate action drills until they became instinctive responses to an ambush, we – just like any other human beings – would instinctively run, seek cover, or hit the deck. And we were U.S. Marines, so there was never a dearth of courage or aggressiveness.
Which brings me back to the students and faculty at Virginia Tech who fell victim to Cho.
They died not because they were too afraid to act. In fact, the heroics of many of them already have been chronicled. More stories of heroism in the face of unequivocal horror will surely surface in the coming weeks and months. And most likely some of the stories of the greatest courage died with the victims before they could be told.
It’s amazing what good men and women are capable of doing in the most desperate moments of life and death. It’s even more amazing how people measure up to a task, even when they are not prepared to do so.
But the odds were against the victims at Virginia Tech. Under the circumstances, they did all they could to survive and help their fellow students and professors. But it wasn’t enough; it never will be against a determined killer like Cho.
And, as retired Navy SEAL and Medal of Honor recipient Mike Thornton told me in an interview for National Review Online’s The Tank, “Thank God, he [Cho] didn’t have guns staged all over the place. The losses would have been even higher.”
W. Thomas Smith Jr. is a former U.S. Marine infantry leader, parachutist, and shipboard counterterrorism instructor and co-author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pirates.
Actually, I’ve heard that the positioning of some of the bodies show they did try to rush Cho. They just didn’t make it.
Any Todd Beamer types would have rushed him and probably did, just not all at once.
But I judge none of them, if any had a chance to act but didnt their own conscience will judge them enough from now on without me piling on.
My guess is another Cho in the future (God forbid) will not rack up such a count before he is tackled.
I live here, dude. You only hear what the MSM wants you to hear.
Simple, Cho was armed, and they were disarmed by a PC law which forbids guns on any school or college campus.
Granted, no one wants a bunch of untrained college kids carrying loaded guns around on campus or in classrooms, but Virginia adults with clean records and some basic firearms training can get permits to carry guns almost anywhere in VA EXCEPT on a school or college campus. That law is stupid and worse than useless, because anyone who is mentally unbalanced or angry enough to commit mass murder at a school couldn't care less about breaking a gun law in the process.
No doubt some of those VT students were old enough and mature enough to have CC permits, and practically any of the faculty would probably qualify. But those permits, if any of the faculty or students did have them, were invalid under VA law at the very place and time where they probably could have saved many lives.
I don’t have a problem with it either. He’s merely discussing it from another angle, one he apparently has some knowledge of. Not a bad thing to do.
Source on people rushing him?
Highly unlikely that you can stop a handful of people dead if they rush you from close range, particularly with a 9mm. The best .357 round has about 94% one shot stops, the best .45 is about 92%, I think 9mm is about 85%. Add the very real problem of rapid fire at moving, closing targets, and it seems doubtful.
regarding “young”, college campuses are full of men of prime military age.
I was commenting on the resources they had available at the time. The idea still makes me angry.
How sure is anyone that Cho really shot himself, as opposed to, say, someone charging him and in spite of getting drilled, grabbing the gun and shooting Cho just before passing out / expiring?
They didn’t rush in handfuls. It’s rather hard to get people organized under fire unless they have been trained to do so. This idea that you can form up a platoon of Marines in a classroom of college students is ridiculous.
One of the guys that rushed him was a ROTC cadet who was buried yesterday under the watchful eyes of Pentagon brass who brought along an Arlington Color Guard to train the VT Corps of Cadets in proper burial techniques.
No, he didn't. Have you considered getting a job with the mainstream media?
I heard he had a 22mm pistol. That’s pretty impressive.
Unfortunately, I believe this is inaccurate. While he held the door, all but two of his students got out. They were still trying to get out the windows when Cho got in. Both of them, as well as their brave teacher, died.
Too much blame has already been placed on everyone other than the gunman. Why not blame whoever decided to admit this family into this country when already the killer at a young age showed weird tendencies?
I would guess the gun has been finger-printed by now, or will be soon, and we'd know if a students prints were on it.
And don’t forget the indoctrination that those who hit back in the face of a bullying attack will be punished as severely as the original attacker.
I think you’re right. For the rush to be successful, it would have to be coordinated and include maybe six determined people.
Pretty strong wrists to handle the recoil from that. I wonder if it came with a 2inch barrel for easy concealment
I didn't know that. I thought all of them had gotten out, I'm sorry to hear it wasn't so.
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.