Blood bath at Virginia Tech today

[radman]

Is it just me, or has tragedy become commonplace?

Tragedy is no more commonplace than it ever was-history is replete with horrors. Whats different now is the information age, where what happens half a planet away is reported as it happens.

 

[ponyfool]

One well trained, armed student could have ended that tragedy. But, I won't go into that cuz I don't want to start a political debate. Even with a fully armed swat team stationed a mile away, most of those people would have still likely died because of how fast it went down.

From CNN:

9:45 a.m. -- Shootings at Norris Hall

Caller to 911 reports more shootings across campus at Norris Hall. Arriving officers breach doors chained from the inside. Officers follow sounds of gunfire to the second floor, where they find the gunman has taken his life.

Very sad though. I grew up in Virginia and many of my friends went to school at Tech.

 

[ponyfool]

Since we are free to talk about guns and police - this should be ok.I am not a police officer, and I cannot fully comprehend what they are subjected to. However it looks very bad to see video of LEOs hiding behind trees and cars while shots are being fired. I can understand that there might of been under orders to secure a position, but nonetheless - it looks bad.

As an 18 year cop, I'll address some of your issues. Prior to Columbine High School, the "accepted" police practice was to lock down the perimeter and wait for SWAT. Columbine presented most agencies with the fact that they had to address what is now referred to as an "Active Shooter." An active shooter is when someone has used deadly force and has unrestricted access to additional victims. Once the person is locked down in a small area, it becomes a hostage situation (unless he continues to fire, in which case it remains an active shooter).

The training now is, the first 4 to 6 officers arrive and create a "contact" team that then goes in and hunts the shooter. In a place like Blacksburg where this happened, you aren't going to have hundreds of cops available, only a few dozen, and even then the response time will probably lag. It isn't like the officers on the first crime scene weren't doing anything, they weren't necessarily free to leave. So, the first officers go hunt while the rest maintain a perimeter.

The images you see on TV are not the hunting officers, but ones who have a very specific and necessary job: maintaining the perimeter. A perimeter officer doesn't stand out as a free open target, but rather from a place of cover or concealment. In larger metropolitan locations, you may have four or five contact teams.

But as I mentioned in an above post, by the time the police were there, it was over. Long over.

 

[Sherman]

Sir,

Thanks for the info, I know we get a very limited picture.

As for the guns for all, I think that might do more harm than good at the frat parties - maybe just for the hall moniter type geeks with orange belts <g>.

There are no simple answers. We must all accept some risks in a free society. That goes for the airpliners too. We cannot afford, and would not want, all of the protections we would need to guarantee 100% safety.

Thanks again,

Bruce

 

[Toecutter]

I believe our efforts are better served offering support and prayers for all the victim's and their families and friends.

And to that end, our Eastern brethren can keep an eye on the Patriot Guard website just in case, and keep us all abreast of other ways to offer support.

I've never been in a situation where someone pulled a gun, but once, late at night, noticed a woman acting odd while at a restaurant. At one point, she put her hand into her purse suspiciously and was scanning the room. I already had the ketchup bottle in my hand, under the table, in case she pulled a gun. She might have gotten me, but she was gonna get a bad head injury in the process. Always be aware of your surroundings. It's like riding your bike in traffic. The world is replete with predators. Don't act like a prey animal. I'm probably preaching to the choir, but who else is gonna listen?