I’m Sorry to Tell You This, Part II
Yesterday, I told you the school safety officer allowed the shooter into the school. For two days, local authorities had held to that story. Now, state authorities are investigating and the story is more disturbing. After I got off air, they said it was not true. There was no school safety officer present. In fact, Victor Escalon, a regional director for the Texas Department of Public Safety, gave a new timeline for what happened. He says the shooter stood outside the school shooting his gun for almost twelve minutes. Then he hopped the school fence and went in the front door, which was still unlocked.
Initial reports were that officers went into the school after an hour. It turns out there were two groups of officers. One stayed outside arresting parents. The other went inside, but not immediately. Those inside evacuated other kids, but refused to engage the gunman for almost an hour until a tactical team arrived. Several students died due to the delay, not because they were shot. Others were shot when they came out of hiding as the police called out. As the story has changed with fresh eyes and deeper investigation, I want to make sure you have all the facts. Unfortunately, as we learn more, the situation is far worse than what I told you yesterday.
During the 1920’s, a school board member put a bomb in a school. He later set off a car bomb when the police, firemen and townspeople came. School terror is nothing new.
Security can be cheap. Big cameras let people know that there is surveillance. Small cameras can be in any common object. Locked doors and windows only work if they are locked. Outer doors can be easily hardened to withstand gunfire. Complacency can get you killed. Protocols were probably written but people stopped following them. Someone in leadership is at fault but they will pass the blame down the line.
“After Sandy Hook the NRA developed a FREE program to provide security experts for schools to assess security issues and give recommendations as to what they could improve. NOT ONE SINGLE SCHOOL TOOK THEM UP ON THAT OFFER IN SPITE OF IT COSTING THEM NOTHING. Let's keep ignoring school security and keep them easy targets.”