RSS
Home
First responders at Fort Hood: Fox News gets it wrong
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Police Sergeant Kimberly Munley heroically
stopped the shooter. (AP)
When Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly committed mass murder at Fort Hood on Thursday, it took three minutes for armed response to arrive.
Fox News claims that the “first responders” arrived at a scene of “organized chaos.” This statement should arouse healthy suspicion in readers: If they are first responders, why was the scene already chaotic?
Fox News used the term “first responder” indiscriminately to define the first people to arrive who are paid to provide emergency services (e.g. police, fire, Emergency Medical Technicians).
The true first responders were the victims; most importantly, what was their response?
Private First Class Marquest Smith was in the building where the shooting occurred. His first response:
The 21-year-old Fort Worth native quickly grabbed the civilian worker who'd been helping with his paperwork and forced her under the desk. He lay low for several minutes, waiting for the shooter to run out of ammunition and wishing he, too, had a gun.
As Hasan paused to reload, Smith ran in and out of the building, attempting to save fellow soldiers, some of whom were wounded.
With such heads-up actions, had Smith been an armed soldier, perhaps more lives would have been saved.
Ron Borsch is consultant trainer for the Bedford (Ohio) Police Department, specializing in tactically training first-responders (bio in previous article). In an email today, Borsch summarized his up-to-date research into how mass murders are stopped:
My latest stats have not changed much, but CIVILIANS lead aborting rapid mass murder at 71%, and with a SINGLE actor initiating the stoppage, and often completing it at 82% of the total.
When police abort rapid mass murder, it is 29%, and with a "Single Officer Lifesaving Others"(C) SOLO at 75% of the total.
The "POSSE" Theory of rounding up a formation of officers to combat a lone (98%) and suicidal (90%) active killer in the precious 1 to 3 "Golden Minutes"(C) of a perishable opportunity has NO tracking history of success that I can find.
[Note: Borsch defines the active killer as “one who commits rapid mass murder, (4 or more intentionally killed). Active Killers typically do NOT negotiate or take hostages.” He defines rapid mass murder as one that occurs in 20 minutes or less.]
Other first responders included victims like Sergeant Amy Krueger. Her mother said Amy “joined the Army after the 2001 terrorist attacks and had vowed to take on Usama bin Laden.”
Another first responder was Kham Xiong. His father said Kham “had been taught and been trained to protect and to fight.” But base regulations required Kham to be disarmed when not on duty or in training.
Amy Krueger and Kham Xiong were not so fortunate as Private First Class Marquest Smith: They both “responded” by dying from their wounds, along with 11 others.
Fortunately for the soldiers at Fort Hood, professional emergency response arrived after three minutes of shooting, during which Hasan was able to “allegedly” murder 13 and wound 31 more.
When Police Sergeant Kimberly Munley got the call of “shots fired,” she did what heroes do: She ran towards the violence, placing herself at risk in order to save others. Confirming Borsch’s comments above, her quick actions in presenting armed resistance stopped the mass murder, drawing Hasan’s attention and wounding him four times in the ensuing exchange.
This article isn’t intended to detract from Munley's heroism and sacrifice, but to educate as to exactly what first response means, and to illustrate the consequences of disarming those who may have benefited from having the tools at hand to save lives.
The true first responders never had a chance to find out if they could have made a difference.
That’s the biggest tragedy.
****************************************
For in-depth analysis of the issues discussed here, read Howard’s book Four Hundred Years of Gun Control: Why Isn’t It Working?, which deconstructs the gun control agenda and motivates more people to support our civil right of self-defense. Autographed copies are available from the author.
Atlanta: Ed Stone | Austin: Howard Nemerov | Boston: Ron Bokleman | Charlotte: Paul Valone | Cheyenne: Anthony Bouchard | Chicago: Don Gwinn | Cleveland: Daniel White | DC: Mike Stollenwerk | Denver: Dan Bidstrup | Grand Rapids: Skip Coryel | Los Angeles: John Longenecker | Minneapolis: John Pierce | National: David Codrea | Phoenix: Douglas Little | Seattle: Dave Workman | St. Louis: Kurt Hofmann | Wisconsin: Gene German
Related Articles:
Comments
Perhaps once a year, a movie comes out that keeps me in my seat, waiting to see what happens next. Sometimes, a great historical drama appears, like …
According to the United Nations (UN) Charter, their purpose is maintaining “international peace and security,” and “promoting and …
- National - David Codrea
- Cleveland - Dan White
- Los Angeles - John Longenecker
- St. Louis - Kurt Hofmann
- Charlotte - Paul Valone
- Denver - Dan Bidstrup
- DC - Mike Stollenwerk
- Minneapolis - John Pierce
- Seattle - Dave Workman
- Atlanta - Ed Stone
- Wisconsin - Gene German
- Boston - Ron Bokleman
- Grand Rapids - Skip Coryel
- Cheyenne - Anthony Bouchard
- Phoenix - Douglas Little
- Knoxville - Liston Matthews
- David Hardy - Arms and the Law
- Gun News Daily
- War on Guns
- The High Road
- Say Uncle
- NRA News
- Free Republic
- Jeff Soyer - Alphecca.com
- Snowflakes in Hell
- Nicki Fellenzer - The Liberty Zone
- Dave Kopel
- Massad Ayoob
- A Keyboard and a .45
- The Real Gun Guys
- Wake Up America
- Clayton Cramer - Civilian Gun Self-Defense Blog
- Oleg Volk - A Human Right
- National Rifle Association
- Texas State Rifle Association
- Keep and Bear Arms
- California Rifle and Pistol Association
- Gun Owners of America
- Second Amendment Foundation
- USA Carry
- Canadian Shooting Sports Association
- Canada's National Firearms Association
- Ted Nugent
- Georgia Carry
- Open Carry
- Armed Females of America
- Future of Freedom Foundation
- Second Amendment Sisters
- Liberty Belles
