Hope and Pray for Benign Outcomes

I was in the happiest place on earth when I heard the saddest news on earth. My wife and I were getting ready to leave Disney’s Animal Kingdom Resort the morning of Dec. 12, 2012 when I read the first murmurings on Twitter of a possible shooting at a school in Connecticut. A few short hours later, we were standing in a long line for the Matterhorn ride when I again checked my feed to learn the unbearable new horrors emerging. Every time I think of it, even still, the utter sadness of what happened that day makes my skin shiver. My first thoughts for the parents and families and all the children soon turned to thoughts for my friend who teaches in a school in the town adjacent to Newtown… and then to teachers, students, parents and children everywhere. This madness never stops, and as we see more and more, no one is immune to these terrifying acts of gun violence.
On Feb. 28, Middle Township got an up close and personal glimpse of this ever-present epidemic. First rumors of a bomb threat were quickly squashed (though Middle Township High School was the target of a bomb threat Feb. 20) and were transformed to reveal that a middle school eighth grade, 12-year-old male student was spotted with a gun.
News of the incident is reported in this paper and you can read about the facts on the front page. A snippet from the story reads, “County Prosecutor Robert Taylor, who responded to the scene with Chief of Detectives Ken Super, said all departments responded according to plans rehearsed monthly by the district and law enforcement officials.”
Heading to the scene, all I could think was, “please please please let it be nothing.” Contrary to what some may believe, all reporters aren’t out looking for blood. By the time I arrived, there was a long line of ambulances, police cars and even a SWAT truck heading out and away from the school. As scary as the morning was for hundreds, if not thousands of local families, I figured it had to be a good sign to see the emergency vehicles heading away from the scene, not toward it.
Thankfully, the situation was squelched quickly and the student taken into custody before any damage could be done. As it turned out, the offending student had been carrying an Airsoft gun that, according to authorities, though possibly not lethal, could still cause harm if shot at someone’s face. When news of the nature of the weapon was revealed at a press conference later that morning, a minority of commenters on the Herald’s (and other news outlets’) social media pages were saying that ‘Middle Township school faculty and Police Department overreacted and blew everything out of proportion’ (paraphrase).
Stop it. Just… stop.
Two words that should never be read in the same sentence are “gun” and “school.” Whenever the two shall meet, I say, unleash every possible resource you have at your disposal and by all means, react as if you have a worst-case scenario on your hands.
On Friday, Middle Township Middle School and police did everything right. When you’re dealing with unknown factors – remember, at the time this is all going down, the facts are coming in minute by minute – it is better to respond with full force. I don’t care if it is later revealed that the whole thing was a hoax. Better safe than sorry. Lock it all down.
Luckily, as Mayor Tim Donohue said, the situation turned out to be a “benign” one. Cape May County didn’t make national news Friday night and there isn’t a soul around that is sorry for that.
As the day went on, I felt more and more like we really got away with one here. Every parent was able to hug their child that night and thank God that Court House didn’t get initiated into the ever-growing map of ill-fated towns across the country suffering from school shootings.
I firmly believe that those who watch over us and do their best to protect us from harm would have controlled a ‘malignant’ situation to the absolute best of their abilities. Our officers, emergency personnel, and school faculty train for these worst-case scenarios. What happened at the middle school last week was evidence that they are ready, extremely willing, and capable to handle such events. I am thankful for their constant vigilance.
Tragically though, as we all know by now, if some unstable individual with a gun truly wants to do damage, there’s only so much the authorities can do. They get there as fast as they can but short of initiating a police state with an armed officer on every corner of every street in America, what else can we do? Be glad for what we have and realize there is no such thing as an overreaction when it comes to our safety. Hope and pray for benign outcomes.
Bryon Cahill has a Twitter account @shakabry where he advocates for a violence-free Cape May County.