I read all I could about Trump saying bad things about the officer who did not engage the school shooter. He was a fucking coward, he failed to use the training he undoubtedly has, he could have done way more to engage the shooter without jeopardizing his own life. An assault rifle does not in any way mean an officer is outgunned if the officer uses his head and exercises a degree of common sense skills.
I have done barricade shooting where the idea is to peek around a doorway, see what your adversary is up to, if you don’t see him but can hear him shooting, it gives you the all clear to move your position up to the next doorway or wall that gets you closer to seeing your shooter.
People apparently need a bit of a lesson in regards to the mechanics of the situation that was at hand. I understand for most people the idea of engaging a shooter, especially one using what to them is such a clear firepower edge, is incomprehensible. For a law enforcement officer who we will assume has had barricade and entry training, not so much, there are important logistics that can sway the outcome in the cop’s favor. An assault rifle would be impossible to go up against if the distances were over 100 feet and there were no walls and rooms to use to advantage.
So the building in question that the officer could hear shooting going on in was hallways and classrooms. If you can hear shooting you know where the shooter is, as long as shooting is going on you are safe to move your position to the doorway and look down the hallway to see if you can see the shooter. As you get to that doorway you can probably tell whether the shooter is in the hallway or inside of a classroom.
If the shooter is not in sight, and is actively shooting, this is the green light to run closer while the shooter is focused and engaged on what he’s shooting. The closer to the room where the shooting is going on the better off you will be (assuming all you have is a handgun). Everyone knows their personal distance where they can easily and reliably hit a person. The shooter, if he is actively shooting is oblivious to the fact that someone has run up to the doorway he will have to use to leave the room. He will more than likely be fairly oblivious as he leaves the room, when he does it’s game over if the cop is standing within 25 feet of that doorway.
Many in this situation would not consider it to be even foolhardy to go up to the door and take a quick peek in while shooting is going on. If the shooter misses the fact that he has company standing right outside the door, chances are very good that the cop will be able to shoot the shooter while he is otherwise engaged.
Even letting the shooter know he has company to where he has to find cover is a good thing, it breaks his concentration from killing kids.
Everything that the officer can do is a good thing compared to doing nothing but wait outside for the shooter to be done with killing.
Let’s say the shooter was standing outside the doorway to where he could see down the hallway. Firing a shot at him, letting him know he has company is a game changer. Chances are the shooter will run the other way toward an exit, he is not going to take the time to mess with locked doors when there is a cop behind him shooting at his back as he runs away. If the shooter is kamikazi and runs his way, time to fall back to a corner of the building or other protection. Advantage is for the cop as the shooter comes into view from the doorway.
When the chief said this guy should have done something he is absolutely correct, he was correct in firing the guy. This cop deserves to be treated like the coward he is. I truly believe that at least nine out of ten cops would have entered the building, and the ones with good survival skills would still be alive, and most would have altered the shooter’s outcome because he was not left to kill unimpeded.
Straight up, there is no defense for this cop, he did not do his job. And yes it is his job to put his life sensibly in danger.
This guy is going to have a very miserable life as he gets eaten up by thoughts about what he could and should have done.
And my main point here is that an assault weapon does not mean cops are woefully outgunned, not to mention most cops and sheriffs have both a shotgun and an assault weapon in their car, where was this cop’s equalizer if he felt outgunned?