I can understand the adrenaline rush of a stressful situation, the dangers of a blind entry with an active shooter, and the trepidation of shooting a child or setting up an accidental crossfire. I do not understand the timeline surrounding the horrific Robb Elementary School shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

From media reports, it appears that there may have been a significant delay in the police response to the incident – possibly reminiscent of the police inaction at the horrific February 14, 2018, shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 people dead and another 17 individuals injured,

Uvalde Shooter Fired Outside School for 12 Minutes Before Entering

Local residents express anger and frustration as police detail new timeline of mass shooting

Local residents voiced anger Thursday about the time it took to end the mass shooting at an elementary school here, as police laid out a fresh timeline that showed the gunman entered the building unobstructed after lingering outside for 12 minutes firing shots.

Victor Escalon, a regional director for the Texas Department of Public Safety, gave a new timeline of how the now-deceased gunman, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, walked into Robb Elementary School, barricaded himself in a classroom and killed 19 children and two teachers.

Mr. Escalon said he couldn’t say why no one stopped Ramos from entering the school during that time Tuesday. Most of the shots Ramos fired came during the first several minutes after he entered the school, Mr. Escalon said.

Ramos shot his grandmother Tuesday morning and drove her truck to Robb Elementary School, crashing the vehicle into a nearby ditch at 11:28 a.m., according to the timeline laid out by Mr. Escalon. He then began shooting at people at a funeral home across the street, prompting a 911 call reporting a gunman at the school at 11:30. Ramos climbed a chain-link fence about 8 feet high onto school grounds and began firing before walking inside, unimpeded, at 11:40. The first police arrived on the scene at 11:44 and exchanged gunfire with Ramos, who locked himself in a fourth-grade classroom. There, he killed the students and teachers.

A Border Patrol tactical team went into the school an hour later, around 12:40 p.m., and was able to get into the classroom and kill Ramos, Mr. Escalon said.<Source>

Ramos barricaded himself in one classroom, where officials said he shot and killed the 19 children and two teachers. A law enforcement official told the Associated Press that the Border Patrol agents had difficulty breaching the door to the classroom and were only able to enter when a staff member opened the door with a key.

Until things calm down, I will not comment on the present situation other than to say parents and community members are highly critical of law enforcement authorities.

What we learned from the Parkland shooting…

(1)  Recommendations on hardening schools as targets of shooters do not appear to have widespread acceptance throughout the nation.

(2)  No legislation or law will stop criminals, crazies, and terrorists from perpetrating their heinous acts. 

(3)  Most citizens are laboring under the false assumption that law enforcement officers have a duty to protect citizens.

In the aftermath of the horrific February 14, 2018 shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida which left 17 people dead and another 17 individuals injured, a group of 15 students filed a civil rights action alleging that local government officials were at fault for failing to provide protection to students. 

The existing law

It appears that the Supreme Court has made it clear that law enforcement agencies are not required to provide protection to citizens who are not in their custody.

One allegation…

Defendant JAN JORDAN (“Jordan”) was at all pertinent times a Broward County Captain and was commander of the shooting scene. She refused to allow emergency personnel to enter the school, even into the safe areas, to save lives. She was tasked with the job to protect the children at the school; her arbitrary and conscience-shocking actions and inactions directly and predictably caused children to die, get injured, and get traumatized. (“Case No. 18-cv-61577-BLOO”)

Dismissal…

The ruling of U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom, sitting on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, dismissed the lawsuit in a ruling that noted that the “two agencies had no constitutional duty to protect students who were not in custody.”

The Judge found that the students were not in a custodial relationship with the officials. “The district court dismissed this claim with prejudice because it was an impermissible shotgun pleading and, in the alternative, because it failed to state a claim and leave to amend it would be futile” [L.S. v. Peterson, 420 F. Supp. 3d 1307, (S.D. Fla. 2019) (“Case No. 18-cv-61577-BLOO”)]

Judge Bloom’s dismissal ruling was affirmed on Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (No. 19-14414; D.C. Docket No. 0:18-cv-61577-BB; 12/11/2020)

(4)  That does not stop aggrieved citizens from creating a media-driven campaign to demand the resignation or firing of those in leadership positions.  

Let us remember the victims as the situation plays out…

Bottom line…

The response to the school shooting is not more useless legislation. The correct response is to harden schools and other places and create a mechanism for dealing with troubled “red flag” children.

Likewise, those attacking law-abiding gun owners or the Constitution’s Second Amendment should be shunned as ideologues seeking political power.

Those attacking the NRA should meet their neighbors, of all colors, creeds, sexual orientations, etc., at a chapter meeting where everyone, especially guests, is welcome.

We are so screwed.

-- steve