In the latter stages of the Columbine massacre, Klebold and Harris are seen on film just before they kill themselves. At that moment in time they both peer out the window and can be heard commenting to one another "look at all the cops outside". The operative word here is outside. It took hours for those cops to reach the scene of the crime inside the building well after the bastards had done their miserable deed.
The lessons learned from Columbine have not yet been determined to have been of any help to the cops who responded to the Virginia Tech incident. Certainly as time goes by more and more analysis and criticism will unfold and the results will spread through out law enforcement across the nation.
I have no background in law enforcement or any special training in anything other than a common persons opinion about how I would want things done if I were at risk in the situation that those poor children found themselves on the campus.
The simple conclusion I arrive at is this. When first responders arrive on the scene I want them to call for back up and then I want them to immediately find and engage the shooter. I don't want armed men draped in bullet proof vests standing outside behind trees waiting for command posts to be set up and negotiators and command personnel to arrive on the scene.
In the only video available so far at VT that included the sound of gun shots, officers can be seen with automatic weapons standing behind trees. While this was happening, the maniac Cho was continuing to fire on unarmed children. What if one officer got into the building as quickly as possible and engaged Cho? How many lives might have been saved had this been done as quickly as humanly possible. What if the first man on the scene listened to the gunshots and immediately went to the scene of the continuing assault?
Yes, this brave person might have been killed in the line of duty but quite frankly that would have been his duty. It was not the duty of 70 year old professors. In these types of situations seconds can make a difference. One brave soul doing his duty might have been the difference between 33 dead and perhaps 10 dead or 20 dead. When one maniac acts in this way all the SWAT teams in the country cannot make a difference if precious time is wasted while they are called on the phone.
When we have a fire we expect that the first firemen on the scene will risk their lives to enter a burning building to rescue anyone they can. It is time that law enforcement adopt the same type of mentality. The new rules of engagement should be stated clearly and unequivocally nationwide. If you hear the sound of gunshots you are to find and engage the shooter immediately. No other course of action should be acceptable.
