SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS AND THE DREADED ACTIVE SHOOTER

Now that we’re on the issue of preparing yourself for the nut job with a gun (Aurora, Colorado, et al.) through mental conditioning (The Color Codes of Survival), maybe we should spend a minute or three on the School Resource Officer.  The SRO differs from the school’s dedicated security person, who, in many cases, is untrained and unarmed, and is totally out of his or her league when we consider the subject of delaying and/or even stopping an (likely) insane intruder marauding the hallways and classrooms of our schools and harbouring an inconsolable sorrow or grudge against some known or unknown person(s) or thing.

The SRO is supposedly well trained and well armed and is on loan from the local police department.  He or she is there to manage disruption and violence by students or intruders.  In extreme cases, like the one I am about to detail, he or she is there to delay or stop deadly violence either on the spot or at least until back-up can arrive.

But on August 30, 2010 in Blountville, Tennessee when SRO Carolyn Gudger reported to work at Sullivan Central High School, she was confronted by a lone gunman inside the school and in front of the principal’s office.  Gudger bravely put herself between the gunman and the principal, the putative target, and for 14 agonizing minutes, according to the raw video I just watched, held her gun on the gunman who was holding his handgun on her.

I watched the two of them do the “death dance” back and forth, to and fro.  I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they both said words to each other while the school was shuddering in “Lock Down Mode.”  And the entire time I muttered to my computer screen, “Jesus, officer, shoot the sumbitch!  Shoot him now and while you’re at it, double-tap him in the torso and put one in his head!”

Officers.  You must be mentally prepared to do your job.  I know it is final and eventually regrettable, but the Gunman with a Grudge is arguably the most dangerous beast on Earth at this moment and there could be some hurtful and catastrophic consequences of your failure to take immediate action against a deadly force threat, including, but not limited to:

  • The gunman firing first.  This ends your hopes of going home that day.  Of seeing your children again.  You are dead.
  • The gunman mortally wounding you on the spot.  Now that you, the only known sworn officer with the ability to stop him are gone, he is free to terrorize and likely kill the teachers, administrators, and students who are cowering inside locked doors, depending upon you to do your job.
  • Police Back-up, who have been summoned by the principal, arrive, have to immediately go into action, and now have to deal with a mounting death count, a brazen shooter, his confidence heightened by his easy success, maybe even barricaded by Now!

I think you get the picture.  Police did arrive on the scene after about 20 harrowing minutes of an asinine stand-off between Gudger and the psycho and shot and killed the gunman.  And I’m not saying that Gudger was not courageous.  After all, she held her ground and held the shooter at bay until back-up could TCB.

But it is an enigma to me why Cudger didn’t shoot.  And, actually, more of a puzzlement why the gunman didn’t shoot Cudger and move on and do what he had originally came there for, which, by the way, we will never, ever know.

 

Until the next post, stay safe.

Hammer

 

Don't miss another post -- subscribe by email or RSS today!

3 Responses to “SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS AND THE DREADED ACTIVE SHOOTER”

  1. Awesome! Great Post!

  2. Trish – thank you for your very kind words.

    Hammer

  3. Interesting article and good information.

    Thanks.