Bravery ? - Florida Parkland High School shooting

Deputy Scot Peterson "arrived at the building where the shooting broke out about 90 seconds after the first shots were fired, and (that he) remained outside for about four minutes. The attack lasted six minutes" -  Sheriff Israel.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43164634

 

Think about it & at least try to be honest with yourself. What would you do? 

Deputy Peterson is 54 & worked at the school for 9 years & had been a policeman for 33 years.  He has resigned & would be entitled to actually retire after an exemplary career.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/armed-officer-resigns-parkland-shooting-article-1.3836465 

The press is full of judgemental comment about him & officers are reportedly guarding his home. Whatever disciplinary procedure takes place his life is ruined & he will have to live with the consequences of his inaction.

I don't know what the protocols are for single officers facing an armed shooter situation. Are they supposed to wait for backup? One man against a well armed shooter, (AR 15 semi automatic rifle), in a panic situation.

 

Do they have any training for situations like this? Apparently not according to the National Association of School Resource Officers. 

https://nasro.org/training/nasro-training-courses/   

Are they armed at all? Do they just carry side arms? How effective would a side arm be against an AR 15?

This is a highly dangerous & volatile situation happening suddenly out of the blue. No one is prepared to face something like this. The "fight or flight" instinct kicks in immediately. Our basic instinct is to avoid danger & live. 

There are heros. Some people are brave & altruistic & their immediate response is to help the victims. But do we know how we personally would react? No. So do we have the right to condemn someone who is in shock, afraid & stops to think? I don't think so.

Yes he was a policeman. So he was presumably trained to deal with all sorts of violent situations. 

Unbelievably the history of school shootings in America goes back to the 1840's / 50's but it didn't become mass shootings until the University of Texas Massacre in 1966.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_the_United_States

The number of incidents increases over the years, but the number of deaths remains in single figures until the notorious Columbine High School in 1999. The highest number of deaths is 33 at the Virginia Tech in 2007. The current Wikipedia list, culminating in the Parkland shooting, seems endless.

All those deaths & injuries. All that trauma & pain. All those families destroyed by a man with a gun. 

And nothing happens....