Hypothetical Report on the Events at Robb Elementary
By Rowan Wolf
The murderer of children and teachers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas purchased two AR-15 rifles days before the massacre at the school. A number of others lie in the hospital, though we know only that one who was in the ICU is now doing better and expected to survive. What we thought we knew has been rewritten, but the biggest questions are not being answered. There is a feeling, more than 48 hours after this massacre, that officials are scrambling to make a believable story.
It has come out that the shooter (I refuse to document his name for public consumption) was in the school from 40-60 minutes (with one slip that it might have been 90 minutes). For now, I’ll stay with 40-60 minutes. I can see a question of maybe 2-3 minutes, but 40 to 60, a TWENTY-minute possible variation? This is insane and unforgivable.
For two days the police said that the School’s Resource Officer (SRO) confronted the shooter when he entered the school. Today the Chief of Police stated that the Resource Officer did not confront the shooter, and was not at the door where he entered. In other words, after 2 days of saying the SRO had confronted (but failed to stop) the shooter, the SRO has inexplicably disappeared. But in this hypothetical scenario, let’s leave the SRO at his post. Would he have “confronted” this person at all? After all, both the guns he had and the body armor he wore are completely legal in Texas. I don’t know if there are restrictions on open carry in schools, but perhaps he just suggested the shooter park his gear somewhere.
Supposedly, the shooter went directly to the two interlinked classrooms and locked the door. It is not clear when the shooting started, but it is obvious that it did. When the police entered the school, they apparently engaged in requesting a number of resources including additional police and a tactical unit from the Border Patrol. (Let’s stick a pin in why the Border Patrol has Tactical Units).
They say that the shooter “barricaded” himself in the room. I believe this is a term of art for any closed and locked door up to actually piling stuff against the door. For the rest of us, “barricaded” conjures a mound of furniture against the door. Regardless, they ultimately brought in a school staff person with a KEY to open the door for them at which time the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) and a couple of police went in and shot him.
So here’s my HYPOTHETICAL outline of events.
The shooter shows up at the school and walks in without any resistance (whether the SRO is there or not).
He proceeds to the classrooms and starts shooting. An unknown number of children are wounded, but (from initial reports) at least 14 students and two teachers were dead. We now know that at least 19 students and 2 teachers died either at the school or at the hospital.
A large number of police show up. Some are reportedly evacuating the rest of the school, perhaps a few are twiddling their thumbs in front of a locked door, and the rest are controlling a growing crowd of parents screaming to get the police to do something, or let them go in and rescue their children.
SO, let’s assume that they knew that the shooter had 2 AR-15s and LOTS of ammunition, and possibly body armor. It has been reported that the school has cameras in the hallways and other public areas, though reportedly not in the classrooms. They were afraid to confront the shooter with the arms that they had, and I assume without body armor. Otherwise, why wait for a tactical unit?
The BORTAC finally arrives. They unlock the door, enter, and kill the shooter.
We can report that at least one child was alive when the tactical unit finally entered. She was seriously wounded and was playing dead under another student who had been killed. She later died at the hospital. Might she have survived if the police had entered earlier and confronted the shooter? Might others also have lived? What we learned from Columbine was that waiting in these situations results in worse outcomes. You have to act with what you have. The reports as of tonight are that police were not even in the building until the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) arrived.
I am losing my mind. What on earth? https://t.co/l63x5KnhjC
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) May 26, 2022
The NOT Hypothetical.
It took a tactical team to face this shooter. Even police would not confront someone with assault weapons and wearing battle armor. This lays bare the lies pushed by the Republicans and purportedly 2nd Amendment supporters. Even police with training and weapons do not want to engage someone with high power semi-automatic weapons like those promoted by Daniel Defense and other arms manufacturers.
More guns, and more “good guys” with guns definitely do not make us safer.
There is very little in a school or workplace that will protect one from an AR-15 rifle. You would need at least a couple of layers of concrete blocks between you and that type of rifle.
We now have a generation plus of children who have regularly done ‘active shooter’ drills.
Having only one door guarded by an SRO doesn’t work, especially if the SRO is out in his or her car somewhere.
No place is safe when we create a toxic environment, encourage hate and white nationalism, and allow military-grade weapons to flow into our society. It’s like addressing the drug problem by promoting a flood of fentanyl into every level of society. Or global warming by burning more and more fossil fuels. Oh yeah, we do that too.
The same folks defending AR-15 type weapons, and removing laws to control gun ownership and where they are welcome in our society, are the same folks who want to ban books and fight wearing masks and getting COVID-19 vaccines. Oh, let’s throw in being anti-choice, and wanting to go back to the 1700s socially and politically. If you look at what they are for; the hate they promote, and you add pushing open-carry military weapons, you might think that they are covertly recruiting a militia.
ADDENDUM
The weapons were Daniel Defense’s DDMA V7s (the exact model has not been reported). Daniel Defense states the following about its products’ DNA:
IT’S IN OUR DNA TO BUILD THE BEST – Building the best isn’t something we try to do. Trying is for those that have the option to fail. We build the best because it’s part of our DNA. We’re genetically coded to make sure that every firearm and accessory stamped with the Daniel Defense name is the absolute best it can be before it ever winds up in your hands. And once there, you’ll feel the quality and workmanship – the Daniel DNA – all the way down to a molecular level.
BORN IN THE USA – … Our support for Second Amendment rights is unwavering because without the teeth of the Second Amendment, there is no First Amendment…and no America as we know it.
PERFORMANCE-DRIVEN RELIABILITY – All of Daniel’s products are designed and built first and foremost to perform and help you get the job done. Every single time. … So no matter what you’re looking to do, chances are we have the SKU for you.
Related Articles
Madelin Halpert. Forbes. May 26, 2022. Daniel Defense–Maker of the RifleUsed By Uvalde Killer-Goes Into Hiding After Widespread Criticism.
Eyewitness News ABC7. May 25, 2022. Texas shooter bought 2 rifles after turning 18, carried out Robb Elementary attack days later.
I am a sociologist, writer and activist with life long engagement in social justice, peace, environmental, and animal rights movements. My research and writing include issues of imperialism, oppression, global capitalism, peak resources, global warming, and environmental degradation. I taught sociology for twenty-two years, was a member of the City of Portland’s Peak Oil Task Force, and maintain my own site Uncommon Thought Journal. I may be reached by email at [email protected]. On a personal note, I am also a survivor of pulmonary hypertension by the gift of a donor’s lungs in 2011. I do my best to honor that gift by trying to be my best self and give to the world what small gifts I have. Among those is a deep passion for life, and the lives of all those with whom I share the planet.