Scissors

"We heard the doorknob turn. The guy was outside our room, yelling. A couple of the guys armed themselves with scissors." An Arapahoe High School student commenting on 850 KOA.

The radio traffic on Metronet sounded like a drill, until the urgency in the dispatcher's voices came through. Asking for more units. Advising where the command post had been set up. A rally point. Ambulances. "The shooter is down." "Arapahoe, this is State. Confirm the shooter is down?" "State, this is Arapahoe. Affirm."

Copycat crimes are not unheard of, and we are all trained to prepare for multiple assailants at multiple locations. We headed for our schools. Additional information poured in - single shooter, one teacher his target, the lockdown procedures and active shooter protocols seemed to work.

I take my Kevlar helmet out of my bag and set it on the seat beside me.  Fortunately today my only role is to wave and represent. Farther south, my brothers and sisters are taking care of business. A fifteen year old girl fights for her life, rescued by officers running toward the sound of the shotgun blasts. This is why we practice; why the lockdown drills, why the tabletop exercises.

One year since Sandy Hook.