The Texas School Massacre - A Combination of Failures

While it easy to second guess any event that occurs, it appears that the recent mass shootings at a Texas elementary school was the result of various failures.  First, the school was not prepared for what occurred.  The gunman was on campus for several minutes shooting up the school before entering through an unlocked door.   The School Guard was apparently nowhere to be found while all of this was going on.  And, then when local police showed up several minutes later they were not properly outfitted to deal with the killer.  They had to call in a tactical unit with body armor to enter the school.  How can this be?

It was reported that 48 minutes went by until law enforcement could enter the building, while parents outside were screaming at them to go in and take out the killer.  While this was going on some parents and an off duty Border Patrol officer went in to rescue their family members.  Finally, it was a border patrol unit that took down the shooter to end the carnage.  In the meantime, the gunman had time to kill 21 people.  

If this sequence is true, there is something very wrong with the picture.  The School District did not adequately protect this school from easy intrusion.  The fact that a gunman could come on campus and shoot up the school before entering inside was inexcusable.  Where was the District Guard who should have been on duty?  

And, then when local police did show up, they were ill equipped to deal with this shooter, which is why they did not enter the building.  Clearly, they feared for their own lives, since they were not protected by body armor.  It has also been reported that they did not have long guns with more range that would have allowed them to respond more forcefully.  

It is impossible to know if these lives could have been saved if things had gone differently.  There definitely needs to be an investigation to determine all the facts.  The findings might add to the tragedy; but, it is the only way to determine if things had been done differently if lives could have been saved.  We could learn from Israel that implements a security strategy that works to protect their schools from Terrorist attacks.  The people who lost their loved ones deserve answers.  And, other School Districts and local law enforcement must heed the lessons learned to prevent similar tragedies in their schools.