The suspected gunman who terrorized an Atlanta-area elementary school, firing in the front office and at officers, was armed with an assault rifle and nearly 500 rounds of ammunition, police said today.
Michael Hill, 20, the lone suspect, allegedly entered Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy in Decatur, Ga., Tuesday carrying an AK-47 assault rifle and several magazines and ammunition, said Chief Cedric Alexander of the DeKalb County, Ga., Police.
"He walked in with 498 rounds of ammunition. Fortunately, this came to an end quietly, without incident," Alexander said at a news conference. "I think we can all make a reasonable assumption he came here to do some harm."
Instead the 20 year old gunman encountered bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff, whose presence of mind and calm demeanor enabled her to reduce the number of deaths to zero.
Here is the 911 call you have to hear to believe.
I could not help but imagine what might have happened if instead of encountering this courageous, compassionate woman, Hill had encountered an armed guard or teacher with a concealed weapon.
How many would have died then?
Of course it is almost impossible to predict the behavior of somebody who is willing to enter a school with the intent to start shooting, but in this case an armed response would have definitely ended in at least one death, if not many many more.
This woman is my hero of the day.
Update: I think somebody needs to confront NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre and tell him that "The only thing that stops a bad man with a gun, is a good woman with a compassionate heart."
Wow, what a kind and compassionate and fearless woman!
ReplyDeleteNot sure why, but I am teary -- her grace and his neediness, maybe? Thanks for posting this in full.
ReplyDeleteChenagrrl, when I listened to the audio tape last night on television, I got teary, too. Indeed, her grace hit every right note to this angry and confused kid, and I was so GRATEFUL and totally inspired.
DeleteI am also teary. Can you imagine how frightening that was, and yet she said exactly the right thing, did exactly the right thing, and showed amazing humanity.
DeleteI just don't think that I could stand to hear of any more children being senselessly slaughtered. Her bravery to stand in between a possible horror and potentially her own death with such compassion and calmness is just amazing and heroic. "Sweetie, it's gonna be OK. No one's gonna hate you, baby." And she could and did mean it. True humanity.
DeleteSame here, started to cry about 3/4 way through listening. This woman is extraordinary.
DeleteShe is one of the people that the Republicans avoid. She has made the NRA eat cheese.
ReplyDeleteBut wait... Wayne La Pierre told me after the Newtown shooting that "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." I guess Mr. La Pierre never met anyone like Antoinette Tuff. The NRA is full of it. Time for them to STFU.
ReplyDeleteA Fan From Chicago
Just wait for the NRA to say that, deep down inside, Michael Hill was actually a good guy, as evidenced by the fact that he responded to talk.
ReplyDeleteHow sad. The school is so lucky to have that wonderful woman working in the front office. She handled the situation better than any law enforcement person could have. With kindness and tact. I hope the young man will get the psychiatric care that he needs and obviously is asking for. I also hope that this country will recognize that having so many guns around means that people who should not ever be allowed near them can get to them.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
She is more than hero for the day. How many lives did she save- many I'm sure- and kept yet another massacre from going into our history books.
ReplyDeleteI heard on the news that there were 800 students in that school. So that is 800 potential victims, none of whom were harmed.
DeleteAnd the shooter himself lived to receive treatment and rehabilitation as well.
I think the term is "best case scenario."
Amazing. . . . . The human spirit is a wonderful thing. Ms. Tuff saved a whole lot of lives.
ReplyDeleteBased on the interview I saw of her last night on the news, I suspect Ms. Tuff would never desire any reward for her heroism. She WILL have the eternal gratitude of every staff member, student and parent associated with that school, as well as the entire community of Decatur.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I hope that some wealthy person digs deep and gives her some kind of wonderful gift to thank her for her amazing courage and for the hundreds of lives she has saved.
The woman is a true hero in the deepest sense of the word.
I also work in a school and each shooting in that setting stokes the deepest fears of every educator. As I listened to the story on the news last night, I wondered how I would react in that kind of situation.
ReplyDeleteI doubt I would have acted in nearly the same courageous, reassuring and sensible manner she did.
Almost all of these shooters are mentally ill. Training staff how to talk to them, convey that they care about them and advise them how to surrender is more important than all of the other security measures. This won't work on all of them such as psychopaths, but part of the problem here is people marginalized who have intellectual disabilities, are out of touch with reality and feel no one cares about them. Since school districts have psychologists, nurses and social workers it should be easy to train not just the staff, but students.
ReplyDelete"Update: I think somebody needs to confront NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre and tell him that "The only thing that stops a bad man with a gun, is a good woman with a compassionate heart." "
ReplyDeleteThat might have to be Ms. Tuff- I bet she could handle yet another bad man with a gun just fine.
I cried listening to this woman's kindness and compassion in helping to talk this young man down. My brother was schizophrenic (he died several years ago) and once tried to set my mother's house on fire, which he thankfully failed at and sought help before it could cause any major damage or hurt anyone. Yet, he was the kindest most gentle guy when he was well. I am grateful that this woman treated this mentally ill man with compassion, and that he was together enough to stop before he hurt anyone and man enough to step away from this path to destruction and turn himself in.
ReplyDeleteAmazing what an adult response can do, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteIt makes me wish more grown-ups were in charge.
Antoinette Tuff IS the heroine of the day.
Thank you, Ms. Tuff for all you have done for that school - as well as for Michael! You have saved many, many lives.
ReplyDeleteWhen all the kindergartners are armed, then when the bad man brings a gun to school they can...
ReplyDelete"MEMPHIS, TN -
(WMC-TV) - A kindergartner is in police custody after a handgun he reportedly brought to school in his backpack discharged in an elementary school cafeteria."
http://www.wmctv.com/story/23229636/5-year-old-fires-gun-in-school-cafeteria
The President called Ms Tuff!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/22/obama-antoinette-tuff_n_3799974.html
Rush Limpballs is going to have a conniption! LOL!!
You got that right! Fox, the blaze, and vinegar tits herself, also, too!
DeleteI watched the entire clip on Anderson Cooper and was physically shaking as it played out. What an amazing feat this woman single handedly pulled off. They had a retired FBI crisis intervention officer on the radio, and he said she did everything according to the book, and he was trained with 30 plus years experience.
ReplyDeleteI hope she teaches others who work in school what she knows and how she pulled it off.
Antoinette Tuff deserves a medal of honor. And I hope the young man finds the help he so desperately needs.
So, George Zimmerman needed to assassinate an unarmed teenager walking home from the convenience store with a bag of Skittles. Antoinette Tuff faced down an armed man and with her compassion and humanity got him to put the gun down and give himself up without hurting anyone.
ReplyDeleteWow, just wow! This woman goes under my 'Hero' category!
ReplyDeleteI'm a psychiatric nurse. I can't tell you how many times people go off their medications and have to come back into the hospital. I wish we knew what to that; I don't know what that could be right now. Maybe we will have an answer somewhere down the road...
One thing that really needs to happen is to change the gun laws for those with mental illnesses. It's just too damned easy to have something like this happen when people do go off their medication. EVERY mass shooting that happens is committed by someone with a mental illness. I hate even hearing, "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."(tooted by Wayne LaPierre). A person with a mental illness can be a very good person. Many of them are caring, functioning members of society when they take their medication correctly. A bad person with a gun might be someone who takes a gun to a gas station or convenience store to rob them. They may not even use the gun, it's money that they are after. They are not necessarily mentally ill.
But someone who starts stockpiling guns and ammunition, who has a diagnosed mental illness, we need to take a closer look at them.
And personally, I'm really fucking sick and tired of having our soldiers come in with PTSD, we treat them for a couple of days, send them home, and hear a few days later that they blew their heads off.
We need to be doing more.