And you just assume that letting beat cops or parents rushing the shooter will result in more deaths but 20 people died, including one that yelled for help at the instigation of police, despite their precautions.
According to the alleged statement of a child. There has been so much that has been wrong about this, I'm not going to take that as proper evidence until I know something solid. And it also doesn't quite pass the smell test for room clearing either. Room clearing is extremely violent. As in, I wouldn't be surprised if the kid couldn't hear shit because he was bleeding from the ears when the C2 blew up the fucking door.
And yes, rushing the shooter will result in more deaths because that's what happens when you charge into a room with a barricaded suspect with anything less than highly trained and equipped people. Room clearing is fucking dangerous at the best of times. Room Clearing in a hostage situation is even worse.
We are also assuming that the shooting was going on while they were waiting, and that the kids weren't already dead. If everyone in the room is already dead, that's an ugly decision, but it's not a totally unreasonable one.
I understood that the police engaged the shooter as they were entering the school
I'm not even sure that that's true. I watched the CNN clip where the official said this, and he phrased it as police officers received fire on entering the school and withdrew, but then went onto say that they cordoned off that specific room. Which means they couldn't have withdrawn from the school. We're not even clear who the suspect got into a gunfight with. I'm being told a off-duty CBP officer shot and killed the suspect, but the entry team also claimed to have shot and killed the suspect, and I don't have any evidence that suggests it's the same person in both events.
So what the hell is he talking about? My best guess is that they heard gunfire entering into the school, they pursued the suspect (or the sounds of the suspect), until he became barricaded in a room. For whatever reason (maybe taking fire from the room, maybe the suspect claiming he had a hostage, maybe the suspect claiming he had a bomb) they decided it would be too dangerous to enter the room, and then waited for an entry team.
the police station was nearly adjacent
That's utterly irrelevant. Police don't spawn from the department like NPC's. They're already on patrol all over the region. Most of the police at the police station, either can't leave (like admin staff and 911 operators), or they aren't even equipped to leave (don't have necessary gear or communications available).
Cops are heros
No they're not. Their professionals, and societal's beating stick. When they are heroes, it is because society has failed already. That's the definition of a hero: someone who steps in to avert catastrophe when an institutional system has failed.
How much worse was it going to get?
Infinitely. That's the biggest danger anyone who is dealing with combat must understand. It can always get worse. It can get worse exponentially in both speed and magnitude. Because you never know the true scope of the threat against you, you can't actually limit the severity of the situation.
First, we can try some hypotheticals. If cops can't quarantine the situation, they can't effect an actual rescue of the wounded. That means each person who's bleeding becomes a death. Normally you shouldn't see more than 10-15% dead versus wounded. As time goes on, each wounded gets added to the dead category. Save the living as quickly as you can. You might think that means making entry, but if you do, that means you are probably going to get dead or wounded cops. Now they get added to the pile of people who need to be rescued: again, time is of the essence and every second that you don't resolve it means more people die. But if you rush in, more people die. But let's say it gets worse? What happens if the cops have to withdraw because they are "combat ineffective" from wounds or deaths? Then the suspect leaves quarantine. Now you start back at square 1: you don't know where the suspect is, you have additional wounded and dead that need rescue. Now he can get to other classrooms. But let's say it gets worse: he gets to yet another classroom, and takes more kids hostage, but barricades the door again. Now you have a new hostage situation, with more casualties, more running clocks, and you can't go into the new room because he's barricaded again. If you repeat what you did earlier, the whole cycle starts again, so you don't go in. But let's say it gets worse: let's say the room has a view of the giant crowd of panicky parents that have come to rescue their kids. Now he gets to shoot at the crowd from an elevated position, wounding parents because rifle rounds can sail 500 yards quite easily. Now you've got an even worse situation where not only is the situation not fully contained, but now your perimeter is taking casualties. But let's say that it gets worse, the cops open fire on the window where the shooter is shooting from to defend themselves and the crowd. Now bullets are sailing into the room and potentially hitting the children that he's taken hostage, or even sailing through the room and hitting cops on the other side of the door/wall. That's assuming the cops are even hitting the room, which many of them probably aren't, and rounds are going to sail into other parts of the building where kids, cops, and civilians who aren't directly engaged are now also dying.
And it can still get worse. It can always get worse very quickly.
According to the alleged statement of a child. There has been so much that has been wrong about this, I'm not going to take that as proper evidence until I know something solid. And it also doesn't quite pass the smell test for room clearing either. Room clearing is extremely violent. As in, I wouldn't be surprised if the kid couldn't hear shit because he was bleeding from the ears when the C2 blew up the fucking door.
And yes, rushing the shooter will result in more deaths because that's what happens when you charge into a room with a barricaded suspect with anything less than highly trained and equipped people. Room clearing is fucking dangerous at the best of times. Room Clearing in a hostage situation is even worse.
We are also assuming that the shooting was going on while they were waiting, and that the kids weren't already dead. If everyone in the room is already dead, that's an ugly decision, but it's not a totally unreasonable one.
I'm not even sure that that's true. I watched the CNN clip where the official said this, and he phrased it as police officers received fire on entering the school and withdrew, but then went onto say that they cordoned off that specific room. Which means they couldn't have withdrawn from the school. We're not even clear who the suspect got into a gunfight with. I'm being told a off-duty CBP officer shot and killed the suspect, but the entry team also claimed to have shot and killed the suspect, and I don't have any evidence that suggests it's the same person in both events.
So what the hell is he talking about? My best guess is that they heard gunfire entering into the school, they pursued the suspect (or the sounds of the suspect), until he became barricaded in a room. For whatever reason (maybe taking fire from the room, maybe the suspect claiming he had a hostage, maybe the suspect claiming he had a bomb) they decided it would be too dangerous to enter the room, and then waited for an entry team.
That's utterly irrelevant. Police don't spawn from the department like NPC's. They're already on patrol all over the region. Most of the police at the police station, either can't leave (like admin staff and 911 operators), or they aren't even equipped to leave (don't have necessary gear or communications available).
No they're not. Their professionals, and societal's beating stick. When they are heroes, it is because society has failed already. That's the definition of a hero: someone who steps in to avert catastrophe when an institutional system has failed.
Infinitely. That's the biggest danger anyone who is dealing with combat must understand. It can always get worse. It can get worse exponentially in both speed and magnitude. Because you never know the true scope of the threat against you, you can't actually limit the severity of the situation.
First, we can try some hypotheticals. If cops can't quarantine the situation, they can't effect an actual rescue of the wounded. That means each person who's bleeding becomes a death. Normally you shouldn't see more than 10-15% dead versus wounded. As time goes on, each wounded gets added to the dead category. Save the living as quickly as you can. You might think that means making entry, but if you do, that means you are probably going to get dead or wounded cops. Now they get added to the pile of people who need to be rescued: again, time is of the essence and every second that you don't resolve it means more people die. But if you rush in, more people die. But let's say it gets worse? What happens if the cops have to withdraw because they are "combat ineffective" from wounds or deaths? Then the suspect leaves quarantine. Now you start back at square 1: you don't know where the suspect is, you have additional wounded and dead that need rescue. Now he can get to other classrooms. But let's say it gets worse: he gets to yet another classroom, and takes more kids hostage, but barricades the door again. Now you have a new hostage situation, with more casualties, more running clocks, and you can't go into the new room because he's barricaded again. If you repeat what you did earlier, the whole cycle starts again, so you don't go in. But let's say it gets worse: let's say the room has a view of the giant crowd of panicky parents that have come to rescue their kids. Now he gets to shoot at the crowd from an elevated position, wounding parents because rifle rounds can sail 500 yards quite easily. Now you've got an even worse situation where not only is the situation not fully contained, but now your perimeter is taking casualties. But let's say that it gets worse, the cops open fire on the window where the shooter is shooting from to defend themselves and the crowd. Now bullets are sailing into the room and potentially hitting the children that he's taken hostage, or even sailing through the room and hitting cops on the other side of the door/wall. That's assuming the cops are even hitting the room, which many of them probably aren't, and rounds are going to sail into other parts of the building where kids, cops, and civilians who aren't directly engaged are now also dying.
And it can still get worse. It can always get worse very quickly.