-  with Darrell Udelhoven  04/17/07

The Mishandling of Virginia Tech (Shooting) Security Protocol Prior to, & During that morning!
In this "Age of Terrorism" to make false assumptions concerning the where-abouts of the killer-perpetrator is unthinkable.

After the first shootings all classes should have been canceling as an immediate first step. To evacuate the class room buildings would be a second step. Then the entire campus should have been locked down until they could identify the shooter & confirm whether the shooter was still on the campus. All the Security procedures listed here should have been implemented immediately, ASAP, in order to protect against further incidents by the shooter or possible other terrorist shooters!

There was an incident last fall & at least two recent prior bomb threats, and they still did not have a security procedure in effect, WOW!

When a severe storm is coming you notify everyone possible to follow prescribed safety procedural protocols.
Instructions concerning the safety procedural protocols are also communicated.

When the first two shootings occurred & the shooter was at large at VA Tech, NO immediate warnings were communicated to the instructors & students.

That would allow the terrorist gunman (or gunmen) to victimize the students in the trap of their classrooms, etc. They should have been warned immediately to get outside and seek safety procedures.

There are excellent drills that can be performed on Saturdays, by those that volunteer.
There are also videos that should be shown to everyone in a school setting, & also in many workplace settings as to how to best protect yourself under varying terrorist situations. Clearing the buildings is normally the best procedure as there could be bomb threats involved as well.

After the first 9-11 reported campus shootings, they should have immediately sounded a siren code signal or other immediate signaling technology to warn the students to take immediate safety procedural actions and after every one that can, gets out of the buildings and class rooms and takes cover. Every dorm and every study hall on campus should be locked down, with safety escape avenues revealed.

All traffic in & out of the campus should have been immediately blocked off and none allowed to enter.  All those vehicles trying to exist should have been stopped &/or inspected, retained there, with the vehicle license numbers recorded.

In this age of terrorism, because law enforcement did not know where the perpetrator was, "or how many other shooters there might be," they had NO right to make any assumptions based on any hearsay evidence, as to whether it was merely a domestic shooting with no chance of other possible shooting incidences on the campus. Remember, there had been recent bomb threats, indicating a terrorist mentality!

Police and (Special Weapons And Tactics) SWAT teams should have been distributed at strategic locations around the campus. If he could not have entered the buildings there would have been NO Confined targets for the shooter. Students & anyone should be instructed to run as fast as the can at a 90-degree angle to the pistol armed gunman, as unless he had a lot of experience shooting at moving target a lethal hit would have been very unlikely!

Additionally, in short order there would have been will armed riflemen that could have pulled down on the shooter & taken him out!

They allowed the terrorist to get in control of that situation & the environment, which should NOT have happened!
Once a shot had been fired outdoors the students in that area would have run for cover.
Additionally, "if need be," anyone in or near their car should blow the horn to signal law enforcement.

All law enforcement should be armed with the best possible rifle type weaponry & with instant communication capabilities with each other

Had they prepared properly & instructed students properly beforehand, carried out a fast acting procedure, there may have only been other students wounded with no fatal hits. You must act immediately, the worst thing you can do is freeze providing the gunman with a stationary target. There are too many factors that will cause the shooter to miss a fast moving target, that I will not list here.

If the Class Rooms were big enough & Not overcrowded with students, and the students observed he was using a pistol, they should all have been instructed to shout to everyone jump move quickly if they move quickly like a boxer, it's a rare gunmen could react fast enough to get lethal hits. Do not NOT stand whenever a gun is pointed at you when the gunmen has begin to shoot!

They will normally shoot behind the quick moving object.  This also may have frustrated the shooter and he would have moved on to the next class room. A 9mm pistol would probably shoot through a desk & could do terminal damage.

The gunman was allowed to set the stage on his terms, that must never ever be allowed from here forward!

The students and Professors need as many tools as possible to fend off a gunman or several gunmen.
All the classrooms could be equipped with Tear Gas canisters, they could open all the windows, and throw the canisters into the student cleared hallway(s). 

A stun  gun as well a mace could be effective if the gunmen force a barricaded door slightly open. Break the fire alarm to fag law enforce where the gunmen are. Windows could be opened and a signal given to law enforcement when to shoot tear gas into the class room, if necessary. You can not shoot when you can't keep your eyes open.

You must have ways & means to fend the shooter(s) off until law enforcement can get to him & take him out! There is more, those are starters.

Now it is afternoon, and they had this student flagged in numerous ways and yet they did NOT even proceed to his dorm, etc. Neither the 9-11 tragedy nor this event should have suffered that toll of human loss of life! The upper floors of the towers should have been evacuated, yes, - there was evidence that Govt. Security considered airplanes as a threat to those towers. There should have been a NO fly Zone protected by fighters and other means.

- udarrell  Darrell Udelhoven, 04/17/07

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The source origin of wars and terrorism is hatred, which is fueled by real and/or perceived injustices and/or fears. To reduce hatred and achieve the requisite level of understanding, you have to understand the nature of the human mind and all of its psychological response mechanisms. You also must communicate effectively with the perceived enemies in order to reveal & quell the source of their hatred and/or fears.

Yes, reality can be tough to take and accept, however, you must realize and know the realities before you can make wise decisions.

Our elected political leaders can waste trillions of dollars and destroy millions of lives and then we end up in a far worse situation than before should foolish actions. When your ways and means lead to war or terrorism and you do not deal with the, perceived or real, injustices there will always be a horrendous price to pay.

Additionally, after you have killed and maimed millions of human beings and destroyed the economy and country, "the inhumane injustice that you have incurred" will result in the exponential spreading of hatred throughout the world. You can not use terrorism to defeat terrorism, because you compound the injustice, which is the seed that sows terrorist actions on all sides!

The tools and means you place your faith in and act on will determine your countries destiny. The killing of hundreds of thousands of civilians and a military force attempt to generate sufficient fear to eliminate a counterattack or a terrorist attack is simply, in this era, totally counterproductive. When the psychology of the individuals you are fighting are perfectly willing to sacrifice their lives in suicide missions in order to fulfill or achieve their mission, then, no amount of military force on the civilian population will eliminate that threat, it will merely compound those threats!

An achievable path to peace can no longer be paved with a war of terrorism on terrorism, because the enemy is not the terrorist or terrorism, “it is the 'hatred or fear' that has been fueled by, perceived and/or real, injustices.” Those source origin causes of the hatred and/or fear that is fueled by injustices must be overcome by effective and highly principled diplomacy. The failure to communicate with the perceived enemy in a conciliatory way can be the biggest cause of divisiveness and ultimate war and terrorism. You must know what they hate or fear before you can ameliorate and eliminate those causal sources.

When anyone has a problem with your behavior, the worst thing you can do is ignore him or her, because this leads to extreme resentment toward you. Where there is no communications there is no relationship, where there is no relationship; there is an opportunity for resentment division and hatred. The question is, what are their needs and their desires, and how can we fulfill them.

It always pays huge dividends to communicate with all perceived enemies with the highest level of conciliatory decorum possible. For the real enemy may be your lack of understanding as to the injustices perceived or real that cause the hatred and enmity toward you as a leader and your nation. The hundreds of thousands and even millions of lives that you will save and the trillions of dollars of money poured down the drain that you will save will be well worth pursuing these new paths to peace and mutual prosperity.

"We will be judged most harshly & suffer horrendous consequence due to our Cardinal Sins of Omission."

Darrell Udelhoven | 04/17/07