Active shooter at my sons school having a hard time

[Grimjaws]

I appreciate the folks on this forum. It is a safe place to share my thoughts.

I’m having a hard time today. This morning my wife and youngest son(he lives out of state) got a text message from my oldest son who teaches in a high school about 8 hours away from us this message

Active gunman I love you goodbye don’t text back we are hiding

I was at work and broke down. My wife called and we struggled. I was in a meeting and my boss and colleagues were very kind and understanding. I drove home and cried with my wife as we searched the news and internet for anything.

36 minutes later my oldest sent a text that police arrested the suspects. He works in a big city and a store next to the school
got robbed - police arrived and the gunmen ran into the school after breaching the front entrance. An SRO stopped two of them from going further into the building but one managed to get by and was tackled outside my sons classroom. Shots were fired but no one was injured. News sources have many conflicting reports.

An hour later we were able to call him. He said he couldn’t lose his cool because he was hiding and caring for 23 students. He broke down over the phone and was very shaken up. This is his second year teaching. I am heartbroken that he had to deal with this trauma but also proud that he did his job and took care of his upset students.

As a parent my responsibility is to take care of family. I feel and felt helpless. There was nothing I could do but wait. Easily one of the worst moments I’ve been through.

I’m struggling.

I have taken every gun and locked them in the safe. I am seriously considering just selling the whole lot and moving on from this hobby. I work in a school as well so I don’t really conceal carry much just on weekends if that. I am more of a casual target shooter but today really scared me.

I know I am not being rational right now and I know time will help with this but for some inexplicable reason the sight of a gun sickens me.

I have dealt with a lot of death in my life. I was there when my aunt died in my childhood home, when my uncle passed away in hospice, when my father in law died in the hospital and I have a great deal of trauma because my dad died in my arms. The fact my son said goodbye meant another death in my mind.

Thankfully he is OK and his school is providing counseling. I am also getting counseling.

Not asking a question or looking for an opinion. Just needed to talk I guess.

 

[bruce5781]

I agree. You are not being rational right now.

Sent from my SM-G781U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Model 19 6"]

Good to hear everyone is okay.Thank you son for hiding the children, also sounds like others did their jobs;

 

[Rustyt1953]

I am sorry that you and your family were put through this terrifying and harrowing ordeal.

Only you can choose which path you take from here on. Choose wisely.

 

[soFlaNative]

Hoping you and yours find peace.

 

[Rudi]

Yor guns have NOTHING to do with crime.

 

[Baxter6551]

Very emotional event and sorry you, your son and family had to go through it. Thank your Son for his efforts. It’s a different world. Re-examine how you want to proceed once the immediate emotional trauma has lessened.

 

[pharmer]

I spent the last 15 years of my work life teaching High School Math. We went through every "active shooter" training, monthly drills, pep talks, reassurance inservices, team building exercises etc. Only thing I can tell you is there is evil with or without guns. I can promise that if things went South I was prepared. We are not trying to reduce evil as a society at this time rather trying to blame it on "them." Zero solutions in that. Don't sell your guns because of the evil in others, keep them because of said evil you may need them. Sorry about your son's experience but it will improve his character. Joe

 

[Onomea]

Your son performed well in a crisis. A good man, a good teacher, a credit to his parents, and the upbringing you gave him.

I am very sorry your family had this experience. I am very glad your son and the children he is responsible for are safe.

Best wishes.

 

[LVSteve]

I'm about to make myself unpopular.

The OP has just given the perfect example as to why cell phones should be banned in schools. We had a hard lockdown at a local high school because a student was mouthing off that he was going to "look after business" and probably use a gun to do it. You may guess what happened next. Lots of students texted and called parents who all rushed to the school.

Once there all the parents did was get underfoot, demand information every five minutes from LEOs trying to do their jobs. The parents had this odd idea that they could establish control. Errm, no. Initially, the school is in charge, unless the concept of locum parentis is dead in the US, and following that it's in the hands of law enforcement, either school police or regular LE. Apparently, parents don't buy into this, so is it any wonder that we have the current discipline issues in schools?

For me, take the phones away. That way the kids can go home and tell mum and dad, "Hey, guess what happened at school today?" That's what I did the day my Irish cousins phoned a vague threat to LE saying they had planted a bomb at a high school in our area.

 

[schutz5]

I agree that consoling yourself with the positive merits elicited by this episode is the best way to cope and embrace life.
You are confronting life with the living.
That is your blessing.

 

[Tom S.]

There is an important difference in this disturbing event. This event was caused by an interrupted robbery, not some mentally ill person bent on taking lives to avenge some perceived wrong doing. These individuals were attempting to escape rather than having a sole purpose of taking lives.

That is not to downplay the seriousness of the situation in any way, but I am thankful the guys with guns intent was not to kill as many innocents as possible. Remember that fact when reflecting back on the incident.

 

[oldbrownhat]

When I read reports like this I can't help but think of YB Yeats' The Second Coming:

"...Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world..."
​

Society is going nuts. I can understamd the OP's despair.

Even here in innocent little Canada, where we don't have shootings in schools (yet...), just last Monday the middle school near me was put under lockdown for two hours as the result of a prank call. My gf also quoted the Yeats when I told her about it.

"...Mission RCMP investigated a phone call from someone threatening to attack the school.

Police say the call was made by a 12 year-old girl in Maple Ridge [next community over] who has no known ties to Hatzic Middle School...

"...Mission and Ridge Meadows RCMP will continue an investigation. They will work with the girl that made the threat to help her understand the consequences of making this type of call."
​

"Work with the girl"?? I hope they read her the riot act

A neighbour's 16 y.o. son is a student there. I may hear more about it tonight as my next door neighbour is having her family and me over for burgers.

 

[1BadSmith]

Another reason we need armed teachers!! Have your son advocate for all teachers being armed at the school!! What if the two security people weren't there to tackle the bottom feeder? Then what??

 

[soFlaNative]

Not asking a question or looking for an opinion. Just needed to talk I guess.

Another reason we need armed teachers!! Have your son advocate for all teachers being armed at the school!! What if the two security people weren't there to tackle the bottom feeder? Then what??

Always a damn shame when an OP's original intent goes south.
My thoughts are still with Grimjaws.

 

[NFrameFred]

Glad to hear your son and everyone at the school are OK.
Though some would marvel at it, I'm actually a very empathetic person, and as such, as horrible as it is to contemplate I have more than once "put myself in the shoes" of someone that has indeed lost a child or a grandchild in one of these heinous acts that turned out badly.

The grief and rage has to be inconsolable. But I personally don't believe my reaction would involve an emotional response against my firearms or firearms in general. Someone referenced such perpetrators as roam amongst us these days as 'sub human'. While my faith dictates I must consider the Maker's admonition to forgive and see others as He sees them, I am still fallible and cannot help but feel we as a society have allowed good intentions and abuse of our freedoms to whelp these sociopathic predators that do exhibit what seem to be only reptilian responses to their fellow human beings. When the mind cannot rise above such apathy and self-centeredness, and shows no natural pity or empathy for others, I would have to consider they have become an aberration and somewhat less than human.

The response to such should not involve flagellating ourselves but accepting that some souls, for whatever reason, seem to be irredeemable. I do not waste my pity on them.

 

[Grimjaws]

Thanks gang

Doing better today. Had time to reflect and talk as a family. Everyone okay but still a little shaken. I’ll just keep the collection in the safe for awhile and give shooting a break for now.

I can say I had a lot of Jameson last night and slept well. My son had a nice dinner some wine and got drunk and I don’t blame him.

We live in NY and he is in NYC so the idea of armed teachers will never happen - this state doesn’t even allow it’s own citizens to carry. And he is not into guns.

I will advocate for an SRO as that made a difference.

Sun is out today and we are cleaning the garage to keep busy.
We will Facetime him later today.

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[WR Moore]

Somewhat off topic, but the concept of locum parentis in our schools has been effectively dead for decades. The concept places the schools in a position of having to have responsibility and that's been unacceptable for lo, many decades.

 

[1BadSmith]

Always a damn shame when an OP's original intent goes south.
My thoughts are still with Grimjaws.

Yup, truly a damn shame there were any responses at all. Guess if his first post was just a statement, then nobody should have responded. Thread should have been closed!!

 

[MSgt G]

I've been teaching high school for 20 years now. The only place I go where I don't even have a chance to protect myself is at school. Guess I'd better keep the pencils sharpened.