Quote:
Originally Posted by K-town
Judging from what I've seen from the Columbine coverage, plus what happened here in K-town some years back, YOU are in charge of saving your own life. The authorities seem quite willing to "contain the situation", thus leaving the hostages at the mercy of the gunmen/psychos for extended periods of time. In both instances, while SWAT and the hostage negotiators were busy setting up and attempting to make contact, people were dying.
That used to be true everywhere, but not so in SLC anymore. 2 months ago a 18 year old shooter entered a shopping mall on a similar rampage. SWAT took him out 6 minutes after the initial 911 call. He killed 5 people and wounded a bunch of others, but if it weren't for the quick reaction and heroism of the police, the death toll could have easily reached or exceeded the Virginia Tech shootings.
There are SWAT teams from all over the country coming here to study how the police here did it. The thinking has shifted from setting up a perimeter and waiting things out to take the shooter(s) out before they can kill scores of unarmed victims.