| Re: At least 20 killed in Virginia Tech shooting
According to the FBI, there were over 10,000 gun-related homicides in 2005. I would assume the number is similar in recent years. I would venture a guess that 99% of these were isolated incidents i.e. guy shoots a cheating girlfriend, woman shoots an abusive boyfriend, gang member shoots rival gang member, two drunks get into a fight at a bar, etc.
In 2004, 37.4% of all homicides went unsolved. I would also assume the number is similar in recent years.
That means that every year, there are about 3,500-4,000 unsolved gun-related homicides. That's not even counting the ones where the killer initially escapes and is found days, weeks, or even months later.
The vast majority of homicides in this country are isolated incidents in which the killer flees the scene. Mass killings are few and far between. The police that responded to the initial shooting had no reason to suspect this was anything besides a crime of passion or a "domestic incident". Hindsight is 20/20. The cops were confronted with a situation where 99.9999% of the time it doesn't end up becoming a mass killing, and they were unfortunate enough to get caught in the other situation that happens .0001% of the time.
What if the cops had focused all their energy on locking down the school, but the killer had already fled the campus and killed a bunch more people off-campus? Then what? The cops have to make the best decision they can given incomplete information, and I am confident they did so to the best of their abilities. Unfortunately, it did not work out the way the police (or anybody really) could have expected
The fact that this massacre happened sucks. It's a terrible, tragic event. But to try to place blame on anybody besides the psychopathic killer is extremely misguided. The question shouldnt be "How could the police allow this to happen?"
The question should be "How could anybody do this?" |