Details are still emerging but early reports indicate that an armed school resource officer stopped an active shooter at Great Mills High School in Maryland Tuesday morning.
UPDATE:
During an afternoon press conference, authorities identified the alleged perpetrator as 17-year-old Austin Wyatt Rollins. The two victims, a 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl have not been identified. The boy is in good condition.
Police said that the girl, who is in critical condition, may have known the shooter. There is an “indication that a prior relationship existed between the shooter and the female victim,” said Sheriff Tim Cameron of St. Mary’s County.
Cameron also identified the responding resource officer who confronted Rollins as Blaine Gaskill. “He pursued the shooter and engaged the shooter,” Cameron said.
Gaskill fired a round at Rollins and the 17-year-old returned fire. Gaskill was not injured. Rollins was mortally wounded. Though, it’s not clear at the moment whether it was the officer’s round that killed Rollins or if the teen later took his own life.
Either way, the sheriff said that there was “no question” that things could have been much worse if it wasn’t for Gaskill.
“This is what we train for. This is what we prepare for and this is what we pray we never have to do,” Cameron said. “And on this day we realized our worst nightmare that our greatest asset — our children — were attacked in a bastion of safety and security, one of our schools.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers are already talking about taking action in the wake of the shooting.
“In addition to a bill introduced by the Governor, we have four emergency measures championed by Senator Waugh, and cosponsored by myself to increase school safety,” wrote Mike Miller, the president of the Maryland Senate on Facebook.
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Sheriff Tim Cameron said there was “no question” things could have been much worse if it wasn’t for the SRO. (Photo: CNN)
“Taken together these bills will strengthen background checks, increase mental health services, assign more school resource officers, and provide funding for commonsense school safety measures such as lockable classroom doors,” he added.
Miller, a Democrat, said he hoped to have the “comprehensive legislative package” on the governor’s desk by the end of the session.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who endorsed hardening schools in recent weeks as well as a measure to confiscate guns from domestic abusers, said the incident serves as a “call to action.”
“Although our pain remains fresh and the facts remain uncertain, today’s horrible events should not be an excuse to pause our conversation about school safety,” said Hogan on Facebook. “Instead, it must serve as a call to action.”
As it relates to hardening schools, Hogan urged state lawmakers to pass a bill that sets aside $125 million to enhance school security. When it comes to arming teachers and other school personnel, though, he wasn’t as enthusiastic.
“I’m not sure it makes sense,” Hogan said in an interview published on Feb. 22 by WBAL. “Police officers and school security, if the local school boards make that decision that they want to arm them, I think that’s their right to do that. But I’m not sure it makes sense to have other school employees” armed.
Maybe Tuesday’s shooting will influence the governor’s stance. As armed resistance saves lives. We want more armed good guys. Not fewer.
I seems that most of these shooters have little interest in going down in fire fight. Once confronted with force, they commit suicide. So at a minimum all “Gun Free” zones need to have security. Better yet, eliminate gun free zones. Even a minimally trained licensed concealed carry citizen showing force can be effective.
Well that is another Liberal that lost it off the street for a few years as most of the mass killers are LIberals or from a liberal family or area.
andy buckmichael, you must be a libtard snowflake.the good guy with a gun won. i wouldent want it any other way
A common denominator in these shootings of late is ,,,teenagers. The enemy is within. The Broward sheriff sends a differing message to the public about engagement of the perp than this good man does.
The common demonator are that they are LIberals and probably Democrats.
Did you read to lock doors. They don’t already do that?? what are they thinking?? Duh.
No the real issue of securing the schools is lost in the ant-gun rhetoric. And that makes the liberal Democrat a big part of the problem. When will the security issue get addressed? The next gunman is already armed and waiting. Will he walk right in and kill ? Or will someone pay attention to who enters and what they carry?
Well IF this is true then the fact that the Police Officer (resource officer? LOL) engaged the active shooter from killing unarmed others is good either through distraction (firing at him) or through shot placement. Either scenario serves to stop the killing. IF true then a job well done by the Officer.
Shame on Coward County, Florida.
My prayers are for the young girl who I read died from her injuries. Sad.
Well this ain’t about a left or right thing. It is about making our Schools Safer. No we will never get them 100% safe, but we can do Safer. Think about this, I cannot CC in a School, nor can I in almost every Government Building in our country, nor in most States can I CC in A Bar, but I digress. I will guess we have more shooting and problems in our Schools then in our Government Building so we need to take half or more of what we spend to keep our Government Safe From US, and spend it on our Kids and Grand-kids. Now why the left or right could not figure this out is because they to busy complaining about the complainers. Do Something as that is normally better then doing nothing. One of the FL Kids said it this way, What We Are Doing Now Ain’t Working. As for kids, when I was just a boy I got a draft card, #252 for Vet Nam, and I protested, our Government not our troops as I support our troops. My generation made some difference for the better as have many since. Todays Kids will met the task when they take over our Great USA just as we did. My Point, help these Kids, if you don’t agree with them Educate them as to why, and then listen to what they have to say. Don’t just complain or say we cannot mess with Our 2nd, mine and yours, and I have been Gunning since the age of 12 or 54 years and counting. Try to find some give and take as that has worked in the past, but WE have lost our way. Watch these kids as my generation made a difference in Nam, and they are on a roll so either meet them pro or con, or just get out of the way and watch.
Never heard a word about this shooting on my local news station in sacramento, ca. If it doesnt fit theif narative, they wont report. Guess they think the weather and a first time lesbian appointment for public office by kevin deleon is more important.
Great come back… Did you read to lock doors. They don’t do that at all what are they thinking?? Duh.
So here is a School Resource Officer who responded as he was trained to respond and eliminated the threat at the school.
Cameron also identified the responding resource officer who confronted Rollins as Blaine Gaskill. “He pursued the shooter and engaged the shooter,” Cameron said. Gaskill fired a round at Rollins and the 17-year-old returned fire. Gaskill was not injured. Rollins was mortally wounded. Though, it’s not clear at the moment whether it was the officer’s round that killed Rollins or if the teen later took his own life. Either way, the sheriff said that there was “no question” that things could have been much worse if it wasn’t for Gaskill.
“This is what we train for. This is what we prepare for and this is what we pray we never have to do,” Cameron said. “And on this day we realized our worst nightmare that our greatest asset — our children — were attacked in a bastion of safety and security, one of our schools.”
So if you recall the cowardly School Resource Officer named Scot Peterson from Broward County Florida cowering outside of the school as the gunman mowed down students and staff inside the school you will see that there truly are law enforcement professionals who perform as they are trained to perform and eliminate the threat. Peterson should just off himself as he is a low-life coward that should be ashamed of himself. What a loser….
Thank you Officer Blaine Gaskill you are a HERO!!
i heard that officer was told by dispatch to stand down and wait for back up . is this true?
No Paul that is not true. The coward cowered outside behind a tree while 17 people were killed and many others wounded. Remember he hired an attorney a few days after the shooting who stated that the public was jumping to conclusions on his lack of response? Then the Sheriff released the video showing him hiding outside afraid to do what he was trained to do. No further comments have come from his attorney or the cowardly loser ex-law enforcement officer. He is a low-life coward and he should now do the honorable thing and off himself.
Paul, as I understand it, the cowardly police officer himself told the other officers that were arriving on scene to take cover and wait on The SWAT team. He was there when it started and the other officers were looking to him for direction, and unfortunately he directed them to be cowards.
Guns, like automobiles, don’t have personalities, emotions or ability on their own to act in any way. They do require a responsible, sensible , trained individual to operate. I was raised, trained, and taught gun use and safety from childhood. One of the individuals who provided that responsible venue also sat me behind the wheel of an automobile and taught me how to manipulate it’s controls in order to safely operate it when I drove. Many thousands of people are injured or killed every day by people who irresponsibly drive. Reckless, inebriated, or otherwise impaired doesn’t matter. But, we still have vehicles on the road without public attack. Poor morals, media, Hollywood, lack of family values and structure increase the likely hood of individuals entering society that are are ill prepared mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Guns and Automobiles are and always will be part of our culture. Let’s look at what we are doing , allowing , teaching as we raise our next generations. We are not focusing on root of problem.
I think it is just a copycat mad about something ! It is not the gun ! Fix the human problem!!!!
I agree ! Let’s focus on fixing the weak link. The human element.
his ex was doing some other guy
As I have been saying, not teachers. Give the duty and the job to sworn school police. Hire vets, pay them.
Arming teachers is doing it on the cheap.
What … wait … You mean to say that a bad guy with a gun was stopped by a GOOD guy with a gun !!! But the liberals say that all guns are bad … so did the GOOD guy with a gun , have a bad gun or a GOOD gun ? … People want to know !
How come there is no information on how this kid got a gun in a pretty much gun restricted state??
If the goon cop shot him it was a lucky shot. Too bad the kid could not be as lucky with his shot.
What the hell is wrong with you? A good cop did what he should, to serve and protect, and you think he should be shot for it? Get out of here!
What a lame ignorant comment. I hope you never need a cop to rescue your sorry tail.
On the contrary – I hope he does, and they don’t.
Andy, comments like yours about this event are just immature and lack any evidence of sensible thought. It sounds like your desire would have been for a criminal shooter to have also been able to kill or injure an individual trying to protect life. Really ? Do some thinking and reflection on your comment !
And you are the types of individuals that law enforcement needs to be investigating. Anyone that would make a comment that is about harming another person, cop or private citizen is not stable and needs serious therapy. May God fix your broken soul.
Just a troll. Back under the bridge from whence you came.
You are prob gonna be the next shooter. Hopefully, there will be a good cop there.
Andy Buckmichael, It’s a shame I don’t know where you live because I’d come and kick your ass into next week.
SCSO Unit 20
This is the problem in the world today we have people like Andy Buckmichael and his stupid thought process,then he vomits it up in this form. The kid he mentions was deranged and potentially could have killed more innocent teenagers for no reason,what was the purpose of that post?
WOW, asshole WTF is wrong with you. good guy wins.you think thats wrong/
Somebody add this idiot to a watch list.
And none of the liberal networks are covering this story, why?
Hmmmm, I wonder..
NBC did cover this story when it broke, only briefly and just barely, with as little emphasis as possible on what is overwhelmingly obvious: This is a textbook case where the outcome could have been horribly worse if it hadn’t been for a good guy with a gun being there in the school, not several miles away. It is the classic argument FOR arming trained and qualified teachers, because it was just plain luck that a resource officer happened to be nearby at the time. In the several minutes minimum it would have taken the police at large to respond, a lot of carnage could have happened that didn’t.
Because the anti-American liberal media would rather not see the real problem addressed. I’m glad awareness of this has grown. Get the word out to America. Americans are being manipulated by the media. History does repeat itself. And it’s happening before our eyes and ears.