..not for all the money in the world. If what a 9 year old survivor, of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, said is correct then all I can say is that the law enforcement officer who called out "yell if you need help" will live with his or her decision to have said that for the rest of his or her life. More at the source.
Do not get me wrong - I am not second-guessing the decision of the officer to do so but I can only imagine because it essentially wound up resulting in an additional child being shot, that officer will have this on his or her conscience for his or her forever; that is if the officer has a conscience and my bet is he or she does have one.
So why no feedback from me as to whether or not I think that was the right thing to say at that particular time. Well, for all I know, that could be what the officer was trained to do - thus no Monday morning quarterbacking from me. Then again, it was a tough call to make in a tough situation when the whole world seems to be spinning out of control and rapidly changing from one Bizarro World to another as each moment passes. Therefor, all I am saying is, all I am commenting on, if what the survivor said is correct, is that the officer calling out like that definitely is in part what led to the girl being shot. Of that, I have no doubt (again dependent on the testimony of the 9 year old survivor which on the face of it seems highly credible) and the officer (sadly) will likely arrive at that same conclusion sooner or later along with many other conclusions about what was the result of his or her own words and actions during that intensely horrendous and time critical situation.
It is simply a fact, if the kid recounted things correctly (and on that point all of this pivots), that the result of the officer saying those words, no matter how you look at this, while unintended truly was a horrific one in that those words in part resulted in the death (or at least the shooting of) another young girl, someone's cherished child. Also without a doubt, so long as the officer has a conscience, that is going to weigh heavily upon the LEO's psyche in everlasting perpetuity. It is not to say that the officer will not be able to cope with it but more so that coping with it will be a life long challenge. That stands even if the officer who said it is one and the same as the Border Patrol Agent who terminated the evil dirtbag who had perpetrated this horrendous crime by murdering 19 children, two teachers and his own grandma. Again, I am not faulting the officer in any way shape or form but stating what I believe to be the factual result of those words being uttered.
From what I understand according to a report on Fox News today - the Border patrol Agent, a member of BORTAC, (the Border Patrol's equivalent of SWAT) ran into the fray without backup (more at the source - but it is confusing if he entered alone or with a team, either way he got the bastard). Regardless as to whether or not he had backup, if he is the one who shouted that out, he also has to keep something else in mind for the rest of his life - that he is the ONE who stopped the attack and prevented the loss of any other lives and he did so at great risk to himself. Of course, that will not likely be enough to erase the fact, if he actually was the one who said those words, that those words led to a little girl being shot (and my guess is killed).
What a terrible day for the victims, a sad & miserable day for the families & survivors to live through & live with for the remainder of their lives, and what a truly sad day for all Americans was that one. My sincerest condolences to the families, loved ones and friends of the victims, and my wishes for speedy and complete physical recovery for the gunshot or other injured victims who made it through alive and for all the children who will have nightmares for some time to come. Mental recovery most assuredly will not be speedy for any of them and may never fully take place but one can hope they find some peace sooner than later. As for the officer who said those words, damn it, I would not want to be that LEO (even if he was the one who shot the bad guy) but I sure hope he or she has the support that will be needed because that psychological counseling and moral support from those close to him will in fact be needed is an absolute certainty.
3 comments:
You are assuming the badgemonkeys have a conscience. They DON'T. These are the same criminals pinned to badges who will happily kick in your door at o dark thirty because you didn't register and surrender your granpas old single barrel shotgun. The death of almost two dozen children means NOTHING to them....as long as they get a regular paycheck, dental plan and EARLY retirement. They are COWARDS, every single one of them.
shooter just bought the guns a week ago w/375 rds most of which he still had. ho did he learn to shoot well enough to put a round in a moving agents hat? the buffalo shooter did tactical reloads, taking cover to do so. i had difficulty teaching soldiers to do that. video games don't cut it. somewhere long the way, these jackwagons had training.
danielbarger - with all due respect (which some probably think should be zero since you showed only disrespect to me and others in LE) generalizations like what you wrote in your reply are rather pointless and usually untrue. Even if the majority of those in law enforcement were worthless scum and cowards, there would be some good ones who did the right things. The truth is most folks in LE seemingly are decent folks and most who go into dangerous situations, when called upon to do so, do what others would not do for ten times the pay. So, what I am trying to say in a respectful way is that I think that what you wrote is pure balderdash.
It was also extremely insulting to me personally (32 years in LE and I never cowered for a moment although at times I was scared almost shitless like during my first two weeks flying as a volunteer Air Marshal right after 9/11 but I did it regardless). In addition it was extremely insulting to those who risked their lives to get kids out of that school and yes they reportedly got several kids and some adults out before the other LEOs stormed the classroom & started shooting. It was also insulting to those who actually went in and terminated the shooter. You saying they are all cowards is absurd as I see it.
Did it take too long - yes way too long. Was that because of cowardice, not the way it seems now. It appears as if the chief of the school police (or whatever his department is called) - who was in charge of that operation - made a fatal blunder in treating the situation as a barricade situation and not as an active shooter situation. Officers under his command then acted accordingly as they would for a barricaded suspect (who may have been holding hostages) as opposed to an active shooter. Anyway, that is what I have been hearing and reading in the news as of this evening. My guess is the chief will retire, resign, be fired or maybe even snuff himself because of this if what is being said about how he handled it is true.
Somehow though, I would bet you see it all as a conspiracy of cowardice. Funny my neighbor swears it was a government conspiracy to kill the school resource officer because he has some invention, a new non-fosil fuel, and they killed the children to cover up they were gunning for him. Now, as absurd as that sounds, it does not make your claims sound any better.
So, is it okay to say stuff like you said here about them all being cowards or criminals - sure but say it as your opinion unless you can prove it with real evidence after considering all of the known factors involved. What's not okay to say are things like they are badgemonkeys (although that maybe is not so bad I guess). What is really disturbing is you stating they are all criminals or saying that the death of those children meant nothing to them. If you want to express those things as your opinion, then state them as your opinion, do not state stuff like that as fact (here as a reply to my blog) unless you have actual evidence to back it up.
In the future, if you want to leave emotionally vehemently nasty replies to my blog, please control yourself and do not do so. You can disagree with me all you want, you can give your opinion all you want about law enforcement or whatever but please when you state something as a fact please have a good amount of factual evidence, if not all the facts, to back it up.
Thanks,
Glenn B
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