A man who was exhibiting very aggressive behavior outside of an elementary school in Alabama was fatally shot by police on Thursday morning.
Oh look. Good guys with guns stop potential bad guy with gun, possibly saving the lives of innocent children. Aren’t firearms wonderful tools for self-defense?
A report from AL.com revealed that a resident living in close proximity to Walnut Park Elementary School near Birmingham, Alabama, contacted local law enforcement authorities and reported “a suspicious man outside the school.”
The man was caught “aggressively” attempting to get inside vehicles and multiple doorways. At the time the incident was unfolding, there were 34 children inside the school taking part in a literacy camp. The facility immediately went on lockdown, according to information provided by Gadsden City School Superintendent Tony Reddick.
“A school resource officer on site responded, talked with the man and called for backup. When a second officer arrived, an altercation ensued,” AL.com stated in the report. “The suspect was then fatally shot. Officials have not said if the man was armed.”
According to the news outlet, dozens of law enforcement officers from multiple agencies responded to the call “within minutes.” One of the officers at the scene suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s State Bureau of Investigation will be looking into the incident.
There are obviously going to be comparisons made between this situation and the horrific tragedy that unfolded at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Police officers did not take decisive action in the Uvalde shooting and have been heavily criticized for their response ever since.
Here, it seems the police acted swiftly and with courage to resolve this situation without things escalating and putting the children in harm’s way. These law enforcement professionals have exemplified what it means to “serve and protect.”
“The children were successfully taken from Walnut Park Elementary and transported to Gadsden City High School. A Thursday morning social media message from the Gadsden/Etowah County Emergency Management Agency informed residents of an “ongoing” police incident, asked them to avoid the area, and instructed parents to bring identification to the high school to pick up their children,” the Daily Wire reported.
Reddick stated that students from the school had conducted an emergency drill earlier this week and largely seemed to be unaware of the situation happening.
“We’re just so thankful that none of this involved the children,” Reddick remarked. “Everyone followed the safety protocols that we’ve drilled on.”
Having these kind of situations playing out across the country on a more frequent basis has revealed that we do need to take some sort of action to ensure that our kids are safe at school. Life as a kid is hard enough without having to worry about getting shot up while you are trying to receive an education.
One possible solution to consider would be to limit entrances and exits to schools and require folks to have permission to enter. There’s also the idea of providing teachers with weapons training and maybe even some self-defense/martial arts techniques to better equip them to take down intruders.
Anything other than banning guns.
It’s sad we have to think this way, but it’s better to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best.
