Armed staff member stopped school shooter

Cartoon: By Glenn McCoy 

After the Sandy Hook School shooting tragedy, the NRA and others were roundly ridiculed for the suggestion that some of these events could be averted or minimized by arming teachers or other staff members.  Liberal policy makers love to cling to their ideas of gun-free zones making people safe despite mounting evidence that the opposite is the case.

The latest shooting at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado has vindicated the NRA and some of the saner commentators by virtue of the fact that the shooter killed himself when confronted by an armed staff member: 

… Robinson said that after Pierson entered the high school at approximately 12:33 p.m. Friday, near the student parking lot, he asked for the teacher by name. At one point, Pierson went into the library, where Murphy actually was located, but a janitor initiated a lockdown and Murphy was able to escape as Pierson entered the room. 

After that, Pierson set off one of the Molotov cocktails, setting at least three bookshelves on fire, investigators told KDVR.com. When an armed school resource officer entered the room, Pierson believed he was cornered and turned his gun on himself, Robinson said.  The entire attack lasted approximately 80 seconds and was captured by security cameras. …

It is difficult to ascertain what the result would have been had there not been an armed staff member present; the killer intended to shoot a teacher who had dropped him off the debating team, however he had fired randomly down a hallway wounding a female student.  It stands to reason though, that leaving the school to deny him his target saved the life of the teacher, and the armed resource officer potentially saved a number of lives.