An insane 18-year-old Uvalde, Texas man went on a shooting rampage. After blasting his grandmother in the face, Salvador Ramos frantically headed for Robb Elementary School. Somehow, the gunman was able to access the school through an unsecured rear entrance.
What transpired next is unthinkable. Ramos barricaded himself in one of the classrooms. After telling the terrified young children, “It’s time to die”, he started shooting them in cold blood. First responders described a scene that was incomprehensible horror.
But how in the world could this happen? Schools have become almost excessively secure. Why was there an obvious point of uninhibited entrance into the school? In addition, according to eyewitness reports, it took an inordinate amount of time for law enforcement to act.
Why, with an active shooter inside an elementary school, did first responders not have a plan in place to immediately act? Jacinto Cazares, the father of one of the dead children, said he watched anxiously as a host of police officers stood around doing nothing.
Cazares even shouted out, “Let’s just rush in because the cops aren’t doing anything like they are supposed to.” Just the idea that Cazares had enough time to process what was happening and make such a vocal response clearly indicates that too much time lapsed.
The grieving father said there were no fewer than 40 armed officers outside the school. Cazares was puzzled as to why they “didn’t do a darn thing (until) it was far too late.” Even witnesses who lived across the street from the school said police seemed slow to respond.
Eventually, only four of over 80 U.S. Border Patrol agents on site entered the building. One of these agents finally shot and killed Ramos. However, the horror had already happened. A total of 19 students and two adults were dead.
Could some or all of them have been saved by swifter action? One father, plus a host of eyewitnesses, seems to think so. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz told CNN a different story. Ortiz insisted that as soon as the agents arrived, “they didn’t hesitate.”
Someone is mistaken. Certainly, with a child inside the building, Ramos’ sense of time may be distorted. But what about the feelings expressed by all the unaffected eyewitnesses? Why do most of these individuals insist that there was an odd delay in police response?
From the time Ramos shot at the school security guard, and then entered the building, he spent nearly 40 minutes killing the students inside the classroom. Are we supposed to believe that it took over a half an hour to “formulate a plan of entry”?
If this is true, someone needs to revisit the strategies used by law enforcement when faced with an active shooter. No one is denying praise for the courageous border agents who went in and shot the gunman. But why did it take so long?
If swifter action had been taken, how many children might not be dead today? Liberals are once again screaming about gun control. As usual, their deranged ideology will not allow them to focus on the real problems.
How did an obviously insane 18-year-old legally purchase firearms? Where is the accountability for the social media posts that clearly showed he was a potentially dangerous person? Why was the rear access door to the school not locked?
What might have happened if the teacher had been armed and trained in the use of a firearm? These are the questions that need to be answered. Crazy people are going to get guns, legally or otherwise. Mental illness in our nation has been swept under the rug for too long.
As unfortunate as it has become, our schools must be secure. Any lackadaisical approach to school security must have consequences. But the left is after the guns again. They are so blinded by their own stubborn ignorance.
Guns don’t kill people. Crazy people with guns kill people. Unfortunately, 19 more children are dead because the far-left refuses to negotiate on anything but an all-or-nothing approach to our Second Amendment. Until they do, Americans can expect to grieve again.