Recent Event – Uvalde

I was interested in weighing in on world events when I first started this blog, but I also wanted to get my base thoughts out their first to provide some understanding of my perspective. But I feel the Uvalde event helps illustrate my thoughts on right & wrong.

Let’s preface this discussion with the understanding this was a tragic event. This discussion is in no way an excuse for what occurred or how it occurred. It is simply a discussion to think about some of the actions that occurred and reviewing them, not in judgement, but in understanding.

I would like to focus on the actions of the parents and police. Some parents reportedly felt the police weren’t doing enough to secure the children and stop the shooter. Some parents even took it amongst themselves to rush into the school to save their kids. There has been criticism of the police response and allegedly some police even threatened jail time for those who failed to listen to the police.

Some reports show support for the police, while others support the parents. On the one hand, the police should have a procedure for securing a site, getting appropriate backup and supplies, and entering and clearing a building. Other civilians in the mix moving through a building with an active shooter can cause additional chaos and accidents and slow police response to the location of an active shooter, or the shooter getting away. Also, any additional civilians could possibly become additional hostages or victims to the shooter. But time is also of the essence in these situations.

These are simply possible issues and concerns that can hinder an operation such as this. I’m not here to speculate as to why things happened the way they did, but to take a moment to think about them.

On the other hand, the parents were willing to act quickly in an attempt to save their children. Technically speaking, the longer the altercation, the more likely the victim count can rise. Maybe a parent would be enough to incapacitate the shooter in the right situation resolving the incident quicker. Maybe a parent could have talked some sense into the shooter to resolve the shooting. If you were a parent in that situation, would you ignore the police and risk life and limb to rescue your child?

Both sides have an argument and a leg to stand on, but which one is right? Do you let the police do their jobs and stay out of the way as to not draw resources away from the situation or do you run in and handle it yourself? To me, right would be dependent on the outcome. If I knew my child would die because I went in, then I’d stay outside, but if I knew I could save my child, I would go in. But unfortunately, we can’t know the outcome until it happens. Which is what makes hindsight 20-20.