From a Fox News report of Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson’s press conference:

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.

Sounds like that SRO stopped what could have possibly been a much bigger tragedy. It’s a result that we expected, based on our own independent testing of school shooting scenarios. If that armed resource officer hadn’t been present, it would have taken even more time for the police to arrive and stop him — time the shooter could have used to killing more people. Instead, in the oft-ridiculed words of Wayne LaPierre, a good guy with a gun stopped the bad guy with a gun.

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92 COMMENTS

    • This is why the shooting came and went faster than Pee Wee Herman in an adult theater.
      This so smacks against MDA, MAIG, CSGV and their whole civilian disarmament movement. We do need to push this as an example of why a good guy with a gun stops evil.

      • I’ve always thought that Newtown was just too convenient. The kid allegedly planned and carried out this mass shooting all on his own. If so then why did he carefully destroy his computer to the extent of smashing his hard drives with a sledge hammer or something? I had this idea that he was talked into it by someone who convinced him that he would be a hero for bringing gun control to the US. I’m probably wrong but then again, why did the first responding officer wait ¼ mile away for back up. There’s just too many signs, I think, for this to be a loner op. Just my thoughts.

        • Your opinion is that it is more reasonable to suspect a conspiracy involving probably dozens (even hundreds) of police and investigators instead of some kid not wanting his porn found and the cops not being able to get someplace in time?

          • Yeah, I suppose that’s as valid as anything I guess. Not trying to be a conspiracy nut job here. It’s just too damned troublesome to me. I am trying to fathom what prompted this sort of thing. It’s just suspicious.

          • Your link is absolutely irrelevant to my opinions and suspicions. I have never even SEEN some of the “arguments” in that article. I said that I didn’t kniw for sure but the circumstances seemed awfully “convenient” to the anti-gunner agenda.

        • I’m not saying you’re wrong, because I don’t have access to the raw evidence and I certainly do not trust those in CT who do. Still, there exists such a thing as Hanlon’s Razor for a reason: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

  2. This is the ONLY good possible outcome we could have asked for in this situation. And I’ll bet the MSM is well on their way to completely ignoring it.

  3. “Stand down from Condition 1.All hands, Mainstream Media is withdrawing from the battle space.

    Say again, stand down from RKBA battlestations.Enemy is leaving the killbox.”

    • I disagree. Now is the time to stay on the offensive. This completely dismantles their theory that armed school resource officers wouldn’t increase safety.

  4. Maybe some media talking head or politician will grab this and run with it? That armed teachers/SRO is the only way to stop these things in their tracks? Actually be for the children, for once.

    • Armed teachers aren’t good enough, it has to be a good guy with a gun AND a badge or else is just too crazy.

  5. Also not mentioned anywhere except Fox was the fact that Pierson had three Molotov cocktails and machete. Also lends support to my theory that he chose this week to do it because of the Newtown incident.

    • You mean an avowed socialist with a history of virulently condemning conservatives and lawful gun owners would deliberately schedule his actions to coincide with the anniversary of Sandy Hook, knowing fully well that it would likely reignite political discussions about so-called “gun violence?” I am shocked, shocked I tell you!

      In Bloombergville, that’s called “taking one for the team.”

    • He bought the shotgun back on the 6th and waited until Thursday to buy the ammo. This tells us two things:

      One, there is no doubt that this was premeditated and planned out with some degree of thought.

      Second, and in the long run more important, waiting periods are useless as well as unconstitutional. If a waiting period exists, simply plan around it.

    • Who cares?

      Most of these weirdos pick a significant date to them, be it Hitler’s birthday, or a previous shooting, or Waco…

  6. Was wondering when y’all would post this. Capt. Nick brought it to my attention.

    And, golly, just what the NRA said would work. A real head-scratcher.

  7. This is finally being reported by the MSM. However, the little shit’s political leanings are still being treated like a state secret.

    • It’s not a secret, it’s just not all that important except to those who want to use this creep as a political stick. You know… you.

      • Sorry, sir, but ever time there’s a mass shooting the media runs out and tries to link the shooter to the Tea Party or NRA. They are the ones who have tried to use shooters as political sticks. Pointing out that this stereotype has been wrong every single time is simply smart strategy.

  8. Confrontation with force is again proven effective at stopping murder suicide attacks. Either force is used to stop the attacker, or the threat of it induces an early initiation of “phase 2” of the murder suicide attack. Time is death, the faster the attackers are confronted with force, the fewer the victims. Repeal GFZ.

    • The voice of sanity, except there are still so many people who somehow believe that the sanctity of a federal law can stop someone who wants to commit murder anyway.

    • He’s not a hero, he was doing his job… but he should be recognized enough that it’s his name, not the little cretin’s, that is remembered from the event.

      It’s happened before… the Fort Hood shooter was taken out by civilian police Sgt. officer Mark Todd. It appears not much was learned then, either.

      • He did his job admirably. He’s a hero.

        He could have fallen back and waited for backup like most cops do. The supreme court has made the decision that police are under no obligation to go into dangerous situations. Instead, he did exactly as we ask of the badge and put himself between civilians and an armed maniac. Risking himself where he did not technically have to in order to save lives and do his duty.

        He should be held up as a hero as an example of exemplary service for other police. Perhaps in other situations we won’t be seeing kids slaughtered for 20 minutes while the first responding units wait a block away for SWAT to go in instead.

  10. Yep, an armed SRO. You know, the shoot me first guy always coming up on posts and comments on TTAG. Except that the shooters are acting on irrational impulses and rage. They simply assault the schools. Their planning seems to stop at arming themselves and then killing themselves if confronted by an armed individual.

    • TTAG’s study also used a host of dedicated shooters and 3-gun competitors. I daresay they have a whole lot more shooting prowess and tactical experience than this deranged teenager who made his very first gun purchase.

      • There actually were some relative newbies in that group, and they held up pretty well. If I recall, one of them had been a gun owner for less than a year and a concealed carrier for about 3 months.

    • Sometimes, particularly if in a static position, an SRO may very well be the first victim. But he or she has a hell of a lot better chance than unarmed kids.

      The officers I know that work in schools have no problem with those odds.

  11. Some infamous inflammatory group offered this as a preventative measure but was lambasted for suggesting such a thing. For those in denial the group was the NRA.
    But, the ANTIS by no-means would ever say they may have a valid point lets just keep rattling of the popular mantra that guns are the problem.

  12. This just made my day. It changes the date of the attack from unfortunate, to almost poetic. The day before the Newtown anniversary, a good guy with a gun stopped another school shooter. The attack was ended in 80 seconds – less than a minute and a half. We should be shouting this from the rooftops.

  13. Somewhere in the DC area, Wayne LaPierre is smoking a cigar, drinking some good bourbon (may I suggest Col EH Taylor small batch?) and smirking. . . . .

  15. So Wayne was right after all? Don’t we all know that when cowards get backed into a corner, they choose the easy way out? Lesson learned: an armed SRO makes a difference especially if he is willing to be the first one through the door. Way to go!!

  16. I don’t understand. The cop was open carrying, why wasn’t he the first one shot? Maybe because criminals usually operate at a primal level? Or maybe because he didn’t want to risk confrontation with an armed individual?

      • 80 seconds from start to suicide. The beginning was the end. When did the cops show up, 5 minutes later? This proves *someone* needs to be armed at schools to stop this s***. Teacher/sro/principal/parent I don’t care as long as these psychos know the party is over.

  17. Anybody else notice how the targeted teacher was praised for not sheltering in place? He made the, cough, optimal tactical decision, cough, of legging it right out.

    • Jay….”not sheltering in place”. Great remark. Seems to me the targeted teacher was most Cowardly…that’s with a capital “C”.

      • Or maybe trying to pull the shooter out of the school. Plus, isn’t the advise to always avoid a gun fight if possible.

        • One report on the radio mentioned specifically that it was an attempt to lure the shooter away from the school. But this soon after it can’t be verified. If it’s true, Kudos galore.

      • I’d bet that there’s nothing in the teacher’s contract about standing around and getting shot just because. And he may have legitimately been trying to deescalate the threat or draw the shooter away.
        In either case, I’m sitting in a nice warm living room with the TV on as I type this… but I’m not in a school with a homicidal person hunting me with a shotgun and Molotov Cocktails. So my perspective may be a little different from his.

  18. You didn’t hear this from me, but several Colorado high schoolers owe their lives indirectly to the actions of the NRA last year .

    No good deed goes unpunished, as the saying goes.

  22. I support armed security at schools, with well trained individuals. Question is, are the same people supporting this, willing to help pay for it?

    • I know I’d pay 20.00 a month without a thought for a retiree. multiply that by how many parents = quite a bit change. It wouldn’t bother me to to pay 30.00 any more I’d do it. Or take a shift to protect my kids without question.

    • Properly vetted community volunteers, armed and supervised by the SRO’s would put a lot of security into schools with little cost.

      At the district I retired from we had 42 schools. 6 of these were high schools with uniformed SRO’s. Have each high school SRO responsible for the volunteers at his school and the elementaries and middle schools that feed his school. He can schedule them, oversee them and assist in training them. Add any staff members at the schools that wished to join in and you would have a potent security force backed by the sworn officers.

      • You could add to the a fore mentioned any vets who could or would be willing. In some cases this could even count as civil service hours or donation for tax purposes.

        • I am a vet with 2 granddaughters in the school system. I have a feeling that if you asked for community volunteers you would get a lot like me. We have a stake in our communities.

    • If I had any kids in school, I’d pay to send the teachers to safety classes and buy them CC holsters and the handguns of their choice. They’re the ones that are there with the kids, after all. I’d rather see the teachers concealed carry because their primary job is to teach, not be security officers.

      Or for that matter, a handgun in their desk drawer.

  23. Cnn has more of the Sheriffs statement…

    The rampage might have resulted in many more casualties had it not been for the quick response of a deputy sheriff who was working as a school resource officer at the school, Robinson said.

    Once he learned of the threat, he ran — accompanied by an unarmed school security officer and two administrators — from the cafeteria to the library, Robinson said. “It’s a fairly long hallway, but the deputy sheriff got there very quickly.”

    The deputy was yelling for people to get down and identified himself as a county deputy sheriff, Robinson said. “We know for a fact that the shooter knew that the deputy was in the immediate area and, while the deputy was containing the shooter, the shooter took his own life.”

    He praised the deputy’s response as “a critical element to the shooter’s decision” to kill himself, and lauded his response to hearing gunshots. “He went to the thunder,” he said. “He heard the noise of gunshot and, when many would run away from it, he ran toward it to make other people safe.”

    http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/14/us/colorado-school-shooting/index.html

    • This turned out well and I admire all four of the people who rushed to the shooter. It still would have been better if more of them, rather than just the one SRO, were armed, just in case.

  24. This report needs to be hammered to the antis… over and over and over again. Living (yeah I said living) proof that it works. Hey parents… speak out and praise the armed good guy. Your kid and others deserve it.

  26. This is definitely a win for our side and glad SRO prevented further tragedy, but I feel extremely bad for the poor lone victim and her family in this situation. Claire Davis took a shotgun at point blank range to the head and is in critical condition. Probably will forever be left with brain damage and other mental issues because of this bastard.

    This is what drives me the most crazy about progressives and their desire of creating a nation of victims.

  27. Several of the mainstream media news stories I read, make sure and mention that his parents “attend Bible study” but fail to mention his leftist political rantings on Facebook. I guess that doesn’t fit the bitter clinger to religion and guns narrative

  29. So far it looks like he was a liberal who was very supportive of gun control. Lets just ban support for gun control, would probably be the most effective thing to ban.

  33. Wasn’t it the Clackamas mall shooting in Oregon where it ended the same way? Shooter saw a good-guy pointing a gun at him. Next shot was the shooter killing themselves?

  35. What makes me wonder about the Sandy Hook situation, is that there are already dispatch tapes released on the CO shooting. We still don’t have any “scene” information from CT. Just outside video and pictures. (What makes me scratch my head about the CT shooting is, why during the entire situation, were there construction workers continuing to work/build on the retaining wall/sidewalk. I mean a massive shooting just occurred, yet you have to continue to work just yards from the school?) I’m not one of these nuts that sits back and argues if we landed on the moon or not, but there are a lot of shady evidence from the CT shooting and there is already information released on the CO shooting. Some things in CT just don’t add up……

  36. The only down side to this (in terms of supporting our right to keep and bear arms) is that the “good guy with a gun” was a sheriff deputy. The gun grabbers will clamor that a mere armed citizen would not have stopped the attacker because the armed citizen has almost no training.

    We should be ready to counter that argument.

    • “We should be ready to counter that argument”

      OK. “What’s so magical about police training? Getting safety training is a normal thing that any responsible gun buyer will do because it’s the sensible thing to do. You know, Common Sense™ and all that?”

  37. Pearl High School shooting in Pearl MS stopped by asst. Principle Joel Myrick.

    Clackamas town center shooting in Portland OR stopped by CCH Nick Meli.

    Arapahoe High School shooting in Cenntenial CO stopped by SRO.

    Post 911 we have a defined operating federal training program to arm commercial pilots to deter skyjacking – allowing trained civilians to carry in the ultimate pressurized gun free zone.

    Yet most media outlets portray the idea of teaching teachers to respond with armed force as ludicrous. Sadly the most armed response many would allow teachers to have would be carrying a fake Glock and confronting the shooter with a warning and the sight of a drawn pistol – alas, also likely illegal with the recent re-passage of the undetectable firearm law.

  38. I give thanks to God and the resource officer for being there to protect my son when I could not. Until he walked on to school grounds with a shotgun, the shooter broke no law. More laws are not what we need to reduce gun violence. I hope no parent endures what thousands of others and me did on Friday. My story, for anyone who will listen: http://jamesviser.com/?p=949

  40. Missed a few weeks of TTAG and just learning this – funny how the media failed to mention this in their wall to wall coverage!

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