This is going to be a short diary because I am working on two books that I have to finish this month.
In any case, it is wonderful to read a truly amazing story like this. I love that no one had to die, the mass shooter was talked out of it, and actually shown compassion and love by this woman. Would that we were all strong enough to denounce our love of violence, revenge, and our desire to arm teachers in favor of acting like this woman.
Meet Antoinette Tuff, woman who prevented a mass shooting at an elementary school. A real hero.
FYI --- YOU MUST WATCH THE VIDEO
Here's a link to the story
Antoinette
Fortunately, Tuesday's gunman incident at an elementary school near Atlanta ended with no injuries or deaths. This is mainly thanks to Antoinette Tuff, a school clerk who spent about an hour calmly persuading the gunman to put his rifle down and surrender.
Tuff feared the worst when she encountered the gunman carrying an AK-47 assault rifle and other weapons in her school office. She told reporters, "I saw a young man ready to kill anybody that he could."
She saw him and had compassion for him.
She told ABC's Diane Sawyer that much of her conversation focused not only on trying to understand the gunman, but also on trying to get the gunman to relate to her. "I just started telling him stories," she said, and things like, "You don't have to die today." Tuff told him a story of tragedy in her own life, and explained to reporters that she simply asked him to put his weapons down and surrender to police. She "talked him through it" by reminding him that "life will still bring about turns, but we can learn from it."
Thank you, Antoinette. There is an alternative to violence, compassion.
Watch the video, it is amazing.
Here's another version of the story
Georgia Elementary School Almost Shooting
Sorry for the short diary.
Thu Aug 22, 2013 at 6:12 PM PT: UPDATE: President Obama called her to thank her!