Does a lightly armed kid killing 32 people over a 2 hour period make law enforcement look incompetent?

Question

Especially when you consider the billions of anti-terrorism money spent on training for just this type of occurance?

Answer 1

Yes, law enforcement did look incompetent. The overweight cop hiding behind the tree looks really Barney Fife like. Some righties think the students should have rushed the killer but if cops were hiding behind trees and they had bullet proof vests and guns and are paid to stop crime, what chance did the kids have?

The police look foolish, especially in light of the fact that the university had reported this man's past behavior and actions and they really did nothing to prevent this occurence.

Answer 2

First of all, I don't consider an obviously disturbed man with two 9mm handguns and several magazines "lightly armed: nor a kid." Your description makes it sound like an 8-year old with a cap gun.
Secondly, I don't fault the actual law enforcement officers since it appears they didn't receive a call from the school until well after the events began. Hindsight being what it is, it's always easy to sit back in a booth at Starbucks and make judgements while typing away feverishly via WiFi about situations you'll never encounter. Until you strap on a ballistic vest, arm yourself, and run into a building where you know there is at least one person shooting people, you really can't know what you would do.
Personally, I'll leave the evaluations to law enforcement so they can develop training and prepare us for the next wack job. Sure there was training after Columbine, but each situation is different and until the fine details are discovered, we won't really know how many balls got dropped and how things could have gone differently.

Answer 3

so many people complained about how people weren't notified about the first shooting before the 2nd... but really... I know I personally would have still gone to class... I just don't think the information would have changed anything. And I'm increasingly annoyed by this argument that the police should have locked down the campus or something... I mean the first shooting looked completely like a domestic issue: boyfriend killing girlfriend who pissed him off and the RA who got in the way... by the time they would have questioned the boyfriend, it would have been too late anyway. and if they locked down the school, this boy would have found a different building to kill people in... the police can't be everywhere at once... maybe less than 32 people would have died, but people would have died no matter what.

Answer 4

What a completely uneducated question. I can see how the media is counting on you and other Sheeple to start fanning the flames of anti-gun/anti-government hype by only listening to what is on TV.

Why don't you at least wait until the investigation is complete before you start putting the blame on the local police and homeland security. One person is to blame for this tragedy!! Only One!! From what I have been able to gather (outside the left leaning media) the responding law enforcement agencies did everything correct.

Answer 5

So far as I have seen in the news reports...No

How could the first two shootings have been determined to be the fore runner of the action two hours later?

Remember we are looking back on the whole of the incident while the Law Enforcement personnel on the ground were unable to see into the future.

A larger question comes to my mind... If the students and educators in the classrooms had had the right to carry arms and at least some had been armed how many lives would he have taken before being taken down himself?

Not many I think.

Someone earlier said as long as guns exist people are going to die... They need to rephrase that to say as long as people exist people are going to die. If guns are taken away knives will have to be next and then rocks and finally someone might strangle someone else so why not just take the hands too?

Answer 6

"...there is no constitutional right to be protected by the state against being murdered by criminals or madmen. It is monstrous if the state fails to protect its residents against such predators but it does not violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or, we suppose, any other provision of the Constitution. The Constitution is a charter of negative liberties: it tells the state to let people alone; it does not require the federal government or the state to provide services, even so elementary a service as maintaining law and order."
Bowers v. DeVito, U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh
Circuit, 686F.2d 616 (1982) See also Reiff v. City of Philadelphia, 477F.Supp.1262 (E.D.Pa. 1979)

In a way I can agree... all the money wasted on the "war on terror" and the "war on drugs" with nothing to show for it. Meanwhile in the real world, actual crime continues to increase while law enforcement is busy trying to enforce laws which are practically unenforceable and make no measurable difference in violent crime, much less petty crimes against tangible people or property.

Answer 7

particular, regulation enforcement did look incompetent. The obese cop hiding at the back of the tree seems extremely Barney Fife like. some righties think of the pupils ought to have rushed the killer yet while cops have been hiding at the back of timber and that that they had bullet evidence vests and weapons and are paid to end crime, what possibility did the youngsters have? The police look silly, extraordinarily in mild of the reality that the college had pronounced this guy's previous habit and movements and that they actually did no longer something to evade this occurence.

Answer 8

I still have to catch up on this one. Like after the first shootings were the police looking for this person? Didn't they recall Columbine and think the other students might be in danger?
Why didn't the school officials better deduce the situation,,,and they are in charge?
Wow, you are right. I'm not sure what it is but security seems to be lacking in this country.
Anyway AlbGonz was probably relieved.

Answer 9

Well just today at a Eugene, Oregon High school, a 15 year old kid put a bomb in one of the many garbage cans in the hall where many lockers were located. When it went off - lucky for him no one was around as they determined ("for a joke" as the kid put it after being caught) it had enough force to have injured anyone who would have been in it's wake.

Answer 10

No it doesn't, it shows the kid was able to elude the police and that he was a reasonably good shot. it also show the university made some poor decisions.
Unfortunately you're going to hear a lot of anti-gun rhetoric after this, even from people who should know better. We can't forget the "In my country" types who are going to throw in their 2 cents worth.