"A hero is no braver than an ordinary person, but he is braver five minutes longer." — R. Waldo Emerson

And oh, how I am reticent to include that quote in an entry, because it means that, again, some one of us had to step up and — for the benefit of us — perform some terrible feat.

*** UPDATE TUESDAY DEC 11 ***


Ah ha! The dirt comes to light! As a teacher, I have — even more regrettably — had failures of reserve in dealing with children, so I can sympathize with Ms. Assam swearing at a bus driver. Still; lying to Internal Affairs? I'm guessing that that is both not unheard-of and also a quick ticket to a dead-end post if you're caught. That seems to be the case in Minneapolis. Here's hoping Ms. Assam has had more positive growth in the intervening 10 years?

And,

It's going to take awhile, I guess, to sort that out. Right now, it seems to stand — awkwardly, I think — that Murray either shot himself in the head and then walked into the church to be shot repeatedly, or was shot repeatedly and then shot himself in the head? Maybe Assam was going for wounding rather than killing? The reporter's facts are intriguingly mixed up.

*** EOF ***


Reminiscent of that friend of mine written of about a year ago, a volunteer security guard steps into the fray to prevent a larger tragedy in Colorado:

Set aside the usual confusion over what an assault weapon is; even a semi-auto rifle is going to cause lots of trouble in a large and unarmed congregation.


This is how it is to be done. There isn't a whiff of grand-standing on Ms. Assam's part, no victory dances or even an arm pump and a "Yesss!" None of that. Shooting a person, even one actively engaged in murderous activity, is not something I — or Ms. Assam, it seems — celebrate.

But, sometimes, it just has to be done. I imagine I would like to be more a "wounder" type defender, as opposed to a "killer" type, but I also guess that under the circumstances there isn't a lot of conscious decision-making that goes on. I'd imagine you defend and hope for the best.

And I say [...] very humbly. God was with me and the whole time I was behind cover — this has got to be God, because of the firepower that [the gunman] had vs. what I had," Assam said.

"I did not run away and I didn't think for a minute to run away, I just knew that I was given the assignment to end this before it got too much worse. I just prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide me."

She told reporters she had not slept since the shooting, "as I'm sure you can tell."

***

Assam was one of about a dozen volunteer security guards at the church, half of whom are armed, Boyd said.

This is what I am hoping to institute, eventually, at my workplace — a school, and thereby a notoriously "soft" target where any number of madmen can expect to find a large number of unarmed fish-in-a-barrel. I'd feel better if the teachers and staff on-site who own and can handle firearms — and I know at least a couple — were allowed and even encouraged to come to campus armed. And I hope to number myself among the actively armed within the next 12 months, even if I can't take a firearm to campus.

In the meantime, I console myself with the thought that there are always plenty of weapons available in the typical classroom, though many of them are only of the grab-and-throw variety.

I have come to think my 1960's-California-raised generation's fear and hatred of weapons is, in the end, unfounded and self-defeating.

Assam extended her sympathy to the families of the victims "and of the gunman — and I mean that very sincerely."

Say a prayer for them all, but don't forget Ms. Assam. Peace will be hard to come by, for her. Unlike the heroes in all of those awful action screenplays.