From "Colorado School Shooting Victim Died Trying to Stop Gunman" (NYT).
ADDED: The Daily Beast quotes Kendrick Castillo's father John:
“He was the best kid in the world,” Castillo said through tears on Wednesday. “One of the kids told me: ‘Like a flash he jumped up.’ She said, ‘You know he’s a hero, he saved me, he jumped up and he ran,’” Castillo told CNN. When asked if they were surprised by that, both of Castillo’s parents immediately responded “no.” “Because we raised him that way, we raised him to be good,” Castillo said. “I know that because of what he did others are alive and thank God for that, I love him... but there’s another part of you that wishes he would have just turned and ran... We know Kendrick, we’re able to tell you that it’s no surprise that if danger was facing him he would approach it and take it on... I’d like the world to know that this wasn’t your average kid... he was extraordinary.”
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72 comments:
It is terrible that these things happen, but I am gratified that the shooter is anonymous, and the heroes are getting press. God Bless them.
News report said that the shooters were too young to own the guns. As if they couldn't get them or the law would stop them from getting them.
America needs to realize there is a deep sickness in the culture and banning or restricting gun sales is not going to stop this. I have really come to the point that I now agree that the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
The fact that public schools have police roaming the halls is shocking to me. We just had a fat Jesuit and some teachers who could - when necessary - intimidate us and smack us up against a locker. Those days are gone. I guess metal detectors are necessary now in the public schools; just like the airports.
A true hero. God bless his family and friends. He deserves a memorial.
The excepted (you see it in all the training videos) reaction to a active shooter is - in order of priority
1. Run
2. Hide
3. Fight
I've always thought #2 was ridiculous considering the power of modern self-loading weapons...they can absolutely shoot through multiple walls, doors, dead-bolts, etc. Absolutely run if you can, but if you can't absolutely fight back, even if all you've got is a letter opener. Surprisingly, you can get the drop on a gun-armed subject from 7 yds and you're dedicated. You'll probably get shot, but they also might get hurt or delayed long enough for the fight to be over.
So 1) run if you can and the 2) fight for your life.
A passage comes to mind from a novel I co-authored with a friend:
He paused. "I am truly sorry about your shipmate, Petty Officer Swall. But he
died in the line of duty, defending his country and his shipmates. Not stupidly. Not in a
car wreck, or a bar fight, or a drug den. Hard to ask for a more honorable death than
that. There was nothing cerebral or intellectual about his death; he leapt to his duty
without hesitation and paid the price. Would that all of us will acquit ourselves so well."
God bless Kendrick and his grieving family and friends.
It is terrible that these things happen, but I am gratified that the shooter is anonymous, and the heroes are getting press.
The shooter who is under 18 is not named but the 18-year-old was. There was a whole bio on him on Heavy yesterday. Typical school shooter.
I saw what may be the next school shooter in the local Walmart this morning. He was about 13-14 and with his doting mother. He was wearing a black hoodie and a black mask except for his eyes. He was thin and his hair was dyed orange-blonde, like the shooter in this case.
I am gratified that the shooter is anonymous, and the heroes are getting press. God Bless them.
Yes, I think publicity is feeding this illness among loser teens. I understand one shooter is an adult. Probably failing a few grades,
Another young hero. Its amazing - and very sad.
God Bless this boy.
I think people are figuring out that Flight 93 isn't just for airplane terrorists. If there are enough people, it is possible to overwhelm a shooter and bring them down.
One of the shooters was transgender female to male transitioning. Never underestimate the power of inappropriate hormone dosing which is predictable for adverse events.
1. Run
2. Hide
3. Fight
I've always thought #2 was ridiculous
As a Victim; you owe it to the Villain to play your part.
Find a closet (or table), to hide in (or under);
Cover your eyes with your arms;
Make noticeably loud whimpering noises;
When the shooter gets to you, uncover your eyes, and sadly look up at him, while he shoots you.
If Victims refuse to participate, it makes the whole routine fall apart.
When discussing mass shootings with anti-gun people, my first question is: "Let's say you hear on the radio that your child's school has an active shooter. What do you most want at that school right now?" They may say "the cops", or "a swat team", but there is really only one answer, and those two are versions of it. You want a good guy with a gun, and you want him there right now. Wouldn't be great if he was already there? He could be, if we just let him, or her. If schools simply allowed qualified people to carry a concealed handgun, there would be a lot less shootings at schools and a lot less kids shot when they do happen. I believe that policy would have prevented most, if not all, of the tragedy from mass shootings at schools. Mass shootings don't happen at gun shows, police stations, or hunting clubs, but think about where they do happen and what those places have in common, or don't have.
It's very sad that this kid had to use his undefended body to save his fellow students against a firearm. Truly heroic, but unessessarily so.
Cops or guards at schools are less effective than unmarked concealed carriers for the same reason that concealed carry is more effective and safer than open carry.
The young man held himself to a higher standard. As a Veteran, Viet Nam era, I respect his sacrifice exhibiting the highest principles of DUTY! HONOR! COUNTRY!
I salute you!
bagoh20 said... there is really only one answer, and those two are versions of it. You want a good guy with a gun, and you want him there right now. Wouldn't be great if he was already there?
Remember!
When seconds count, the police are only minutes away!!!
Since we just left this area and know quite a few families at STEM, we had this conversation with our kids last night. And it pretty much was, if you can fight back, do it because you'll probably die if no one does anything.
Though, this shooting could never have turned into a Newton like massacre. The police station is about half a mile away. Still, two minutes is too long for most of the kids in that classroom.
This is a call for all, and I do mean all men, when you hear shooting, do not run away, but go towards the sound of the gunfire, and yes, I say this as a twice wounded Vietnam veteran. Do not ever proclaim that you are a beta man. Act like a man.
Toxic masculinity. Why didn't all the girls jump in?
During a bus ride in the days before cell phones, a punk started assaulting the driver. Not many people on board and I didn't know if I could do anything effective other than yelling at the guy to stop. Eventually, the driver kicked him--literally--off the bus, down the steps and through the front door, and drove off leaving the perp on the pavement. This was downtown Seattle, probably late 1970's.
bagoh20 said... there is really only one answer, and those two are versions of it. You want a good guy with a gun, and you want him there right now. Wouldn't be great if he was already there?
Agree completely. But...there always is a but...I think the schools are looking at this from a liability issue: playing out 'what if' scenarios. Even if the guy with the gun does all the right things in such an unpredictable situation, there will always somebody pointing out (armchair quarterbacking) how things should have been done differently, with potential litigious results.
I don't think there are many people who are going to be willing to work for obscenely low pay, with a task to run towards the bullets, and if you don't die, and don't do everything right, you are going to be seeing the inside of a court room for the next several years. And, oh yeah, live with the emotional burden of what just transpired.
So, sadly, many districts do just...nothing.
Every time I hear one of these stories, I imagine myself in the rural high school where I taught years ago. My room was about 5 steps from an entrance to the building and students could pull their cars right up to the door. I hope that school has tightened up security since then!
I'm thankful not to be a classroom teacher anymore, but if I were, I would be sure to get my concealed carry permit.
Lots of people are 18 for at least part of Grade 12. If your birthday is during or prior to the third week of June you’ll be an adult high school student for some period of time.
A year or so ago, a friend who's a cop shared a really well researched paper from the FBI cataloging active shooter events in America. Included with the details of each of the events was how each event came to an end.
Pretty much every one of the events ended when the shooter was confronted by someone else, usually by someone who was armed.
You can hide under a table and hope the cops arrive and find the shooter before the shooter finds you, or that someone else rushes the shooter, or the shooter just runs out of bullets. Or, like this guy, rush the shooter yourself. All of those choices are bad. Some are worse than others. But the shooting generally continues until the shooter is confronted. The sooner that happens, the sooner the shooting stops.
"This is a call for all, and I do mean all men, when you hear shooting, do not run away, but go towards the sound of the gunfire, and yes, I say this as a twice wounded Vietnam veteran. Do not ever proclaim that you are a beta man. Act like a man."
Great Advice!
I too am glad the heroes are "Getting the press" but I wish the shooter wasn't just "anonymous" I wish he was dead.
Its too bad that when the gang of boys subdued him, someone couldn't have "accidentally" shot the killer.
This is encouraging- in less than a week, we have seen two instances where the victims were not passive and actually ended the confrontation by actually fighting back, even while unarmed themselves. I think the debacle of the Broward County police has finally gotten it into people's head that the police are not there to protect you, and never were. They are there to collect your body for the post mortem, and possibly to arrest the shooter when he runs out of ammo, or to collect his body when he offs himself.
You can hide under a table and hope the cops arrive and find the shooter before the shooter finds you,
We had an active shooter training session a few years ago. He told us that lying flat on the floor was not good if a grenade was used. It was OK to lie flat if he was shooting.
Maybe it was the other way round,. I can't remember,
Once again, if the young man had been carrying, lives could have been saved, probably his own.
One shooter was a transy and the other a Trump and Christian hater. Doesn't fit the narrative, ergo the story has no legs.
More of that damn toxic masculinity.
"I don't think there are many people who are going to be willing to work for obscenely low pay, with a task to run towards the bullets,..."
I'm not suggesting the schools PAY people to defend themselves. Just let people who work there have their Second Amendment right to do the wise thing for their own self-defense, which in most cases would eliminate the liability. If the shooters knows there are armed people who they can't identify in the school, they will not do these shootings. That's why they are stopped so often with even the slightest confrontation, or even the threat of one. They want to be powerful and in charge, which they can only do with helpless victims.
As for rushing the shooter, I don't know if I'd have the guts, but I hope I would even if it cost me my life. I would have a hard time living with myself otherwise. A gun is a distance tool. It loses almost all of its advantage when you close the distance. Once I get to you, you no longer have a gun - WE have a gun.
One of the first things I did when moving to Nevada two years ago was get my CCW permit. I'm armed 24/7 now. It's never out of reach. I'm wearin it right now at my work, and will have it on until I go to bed.
a real-life Superhero
RIP
I think the debacle of the Broward County police has finally gotten it into people's head that the police are not there to protect you, and never were.
This rings true to me.
there’s another part of you that wishes he would have just turned and ran reflects the modern ignorance regarding use of the past participle in English. In proper English, one says, there’s another part of you that wishes he would have just turned and run. Even better would be employment of the subjunctive, as in there’s another part of you that wishes he had just turned and run.
It is common to hear, "I shouldn't have drank so much" and similar emetic constructions. It's no help to blame these errors on a speaker's having a native language other than English--like Spanish, Portuguese, French or German, because all of them also observe strict rules on the use and form of the past participle.
What was the weapon used? I'd always heard that you run at a long firearm but run from a handgun. Makes sense.
Not being a kid raised during this period of mass shootings, I can only guess at what is really discussed in the school hallways and the lunchroom about these events and the risk of being a future target.... but it most certainly is discussed. They know perfectly well that successful shooters have systematically moved through the rooms in search of those hiding and plinking them off like tin coffee can lids nailed to a tree.
Whether "let's roll" comes up or not, it doesn't take any imagination to figure out that throwing books, pens, purses, and chewing gum followed by a rush at the shooter is going to be far more effective in ending the carnage than simply hoping that the shooter won't find you cowering behind your desk.
I don't know what depth of putrid self-loathing and anger infects these guys, but whatever they get out of this would quickly lose its appeal when it ultimately becomes clear that the gig is up on the possibility of jerking off to mass murder of little kids. You might get one or two, but that's about it before you're decked.
- Krumhorn
Run at the shooter, not the firearm. ;-)
Known Unknown said, "I think people are figuring out that Flight 93 isn't just for airplane terrorists. If there are enough people, it is possible to overwhelm a shooter and bring them down."
That was my first reaction, too. We've heard of a couple of cases in the last week or two in which someone rushed the shooter and died for it, but brought the shooting to an end (even if, in this case, it was others who actually subdued the shooter after the hero led the way).
"Flight 93" indeed. You can run, or cower--or fight back.
A calculated risk. A reconciliation of his life and others. Semper fidelis
Female instinct is to protect the children, and themselves, as the mothers of future children.
Exactly, equal and complementary. And the male instinct is to place women and children first. It's a matter of fitness and morality that most women and girls, men and boys never outgrow.
If the gun was taken out a guitar case sounds like a long gun.
Kids are probably increasingly thinking through what they would do in an active shooter situation. We did nuclear attack drills in grade school but the threats these kids face . . .
One article says: Deputies recovered at least two handguns from the suspects, he added.
Doesn't say whether these were the guns used in the shooting or if they were the only firearms found.
I read yesterday that the shooter used a 9mm.
Bravo for this young man. I think at the back of everyone's head nowadays is the thought that charging the shooter isn't necessarily the wrong tactic, and some young men are acting on that thought.......I'm not sure how to handle publicity for the shooter. There's an immediate urge to vilify him, but that gives him a dark glamour that may inspire other shooters. I suppose the best thing is to just ignore him.......A lot of evil is hard wired into the human brain but not school shootings. How did this become a phenomenon and how do you make it end?
Sounds like the shooter was also on anti depressants, and may be other drugs.
Which sounds like a common theme among many shooters.
It's a sad situation, where the politics of the shooter, is used as a political weapon by the media and Democrats. This shooter was left and a Trump Hater, so there will be little or no coverage.
My respects to those that rushed the shooter. Your actions saved many lives.
I suppose the best thing is to just ignore him......
Yes, other than: "It was just another skinny white guy with orange hair. Not a Muslim and not a Trump supporter." That should suffice.
Thank God we have jimbino here to nitpick the grammar of a grieving father. No national parks angle on this one, hunh?
How do we wind up with these three-issue goobers like him and Hardin? Does Althouse take out ads in Sperg Weekly?
Sounds like the shooter was also on anti depressants, and may be other drugs.
Which sounds like a common theme among many shooters.
Haven't they learned yet??? Antidepressants have a terrible effect on teens and young adults.
"As is often the case in these situations, there was heroism at the scene. The [Douglas county?] sheriff said his officers responded quickly and engaged and stopped the gunmen.
“Our officers went in, and we engaged the suspects. We did struggle with them to take them into custody. They are in custody right now,” the sheriff said in the press conference."
The Jefferson County Sheriff said their actions at Columbine were successful because no police were hurt.
2016 has been called
Flight 93 Election.
The brave kids must have known that meme.
What about 2020 ... are terrorist still aboard?
Stories like this make Republicans feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
The more kids that get shot dead, the more certain they are that they are being kept free. By the 2nd amendment.
ritmo. Isn't there an infltable doll you should be playing with?
You're the best inflatable doll there is, rusty. You and your fellow cretins.
mockturtle said...
A true hero. God bless his family and friends. He deserves a memorial.
Hear hear. And an epitaph should be chiseled in the gravestone that reads:
He died to make paranoid Americans like mock turtle feel safer in their extreme interpretation of the second amendment...
Kendrick died for your sins, mock turtle. You and the other crazies.
The more guns, the more Castillos. Until they're all dead.
That's the right-wing game plan.
My post about the sheriff is because they seem to be trying to take credit for what the kids did, not to imply that the kids didn't do anything.
Blogger Otto said...
One shooter was a transy and the other a Trump and Christian hater. Doesn't fit the narrative, ergo the story has no legs.
Correct. Need to talk tax transcripts and Barr.
How do we wind up with these three-issue goobers like him and Hardin? Does Althouse take out ads in Sperg Weekly?
That's funny! But speaking as an assburger myself, I want to chastise you for being so unPC and melting my snowflake without a trigger warning. My wife asserts that I have less than a teaspoon of emotional intelligence. She might as well call me a Sperg and make it official.
- Krumhorn
Amazing kid, and that the shooter was overwhelmed is great--I know in our active-shooter training we got the standard, run-hide-fight advice . . . May the example spread!
I used to claim that my father taught me to sit facing the doorway and to know where the exits are; I overused the joke but damn if by the time I was 25 or so I hadn't actually started doing it as a matter of habit. It has helped me avoid some unwelcome people, but so far nobody holding a gun.
Narr
Scream loudly and act crazier than the shooter and you may surprise them!
David, they are embargoing information on the shooters in order not to make them heroes. Wonder why start now?
It's funny, but I didn't read any of the feminist left complaining about the evident toxic masculinity in this case - that aggressiveness and courage we saw in Castillo and the student at UNC.
Kendrick's parents raised him right. Unfortunately, two other sets of parents raised their kids to be angry LGTB weirdos with a grudge against everyone and made the guns to act out their entitled victimhood available. Thanks to the parents' affluence affording the best defense counsel, we'll get to hear endless tales of their victimhood, their chemical dependencies, the evils of a society that just couldn't understand them. Like the Aurora theatre shooter, it'll all be about them and their need for therapy.
Kendrick Castillo, RIP. You will be missed. Need more people like you.
"Dear Madam,--
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.
I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,
A. Lincoln"
No guns for Ritmo. What a psycho. I'll wager the hatred he spews here is very similar to that spewed by the tranny and his bigoted Trump hating friend.
I also think it's time we had a national conversation addressing the delusions of transexuals. We enable them to deny Reality and expect different results?
And where are all the Christian-hating atheists? Aren't they suppose to come out and explain themselves? Disassociate themselves and denounce the shooters? That's how this works right?
Blogger bagoh20 said...
"I don't think there are many people who are going to be willing to work for obscenely low pay, with a task to run towards the bullets,..."
I'm not suggesting the schools PAY people to defend themselves. Just let people who work there have their Second Amendment ...
Sorry, didn’t mean to imply that is what you were saying; I was just looking at it from a school administration (sic) point of view. Indeed, you are right. Elimination of ‘gun free zones’ would probably be enough, while advocating responsible gun ownership. As we know, administrators are all about making rules not eliminating them.
Nothing has done more to trivialize this brave childs life than the comments of the usual suspects on this blog.
The loss is allof ours
"... weapons...they can absolutely shoot through multiple walls, doors, dead-bolts, etc."
I always cringe/laugh when I see movies where the good guys overturn a table or leap behind a sofa to protect themselves from gunfire.
So, the push for restricting guns to those deemed mentally questionable should extend to the transgendered? Jus axin.
Lots less coverage here. But why?
Trump hater?
Handguns instead of the scary old AR-15?
Transgender involved?
Perps are Christian haters?
Both shooters were-
Democrat
anti-Christian
anti-Trump
One was an avowed atheist, one was mentally ill and being supported in her illness by being fed hormones to feed her delusion.
Both being Democrat probably means both were also-
anti-gun
But used them anyway...
One thing learned the hard way is that official government advice on how to deal with crazies is almost always wrong. 9/11 happened because official government advice said to not fight back against hijackers. 9/11 would have been a little worse but for the passengers of Flight 93, who fought back.
Why has no one mentioned an FFDO -like program for schools?
"... Mr. Castillo’s split-second decision to lunge for the gunman gave the other students a precious few seconds of cover to dive under their desks or rush the gunman. [One student] said a cluster of boys then tackled the gunman, allowing her and others to flee the classroom.... 'I don’t have enough words... They didn’t have to risk their lives to save the 15 of us who were left.'...
Toxic femininity in action: While the boys step up and attack the attacker, saving everyone else at the risk of their own lives, the girls just run away, leaving everyone else in danger.
The robotics team that Mr. Castillo belonged to (it was coached by his father) was at the world championships two weeks ago, and finished first in the qualifiers for its division. Kendrick was an active and enthusiastic member of the team, and was remembered by those who were there. I am sickened this this fine young man, who had so much to share, has his entire life truncated and distilled to a single act of (extremely laudable, and deeply respected) courage, while the filth that stole his future from him will live on as guests of the state.
I am not communicating this well...my hands are shaking with rage and I am consumed with sadness over this. Thank you for listening.
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