Hero corduroy overpowers US school gunman
Two-fisted maths teacher in carpark shootist bitchslap
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A hard-as-nails maths teacher in Colorado has received the grateful thanks of his community after barehandedly tackling a gunman who had opened fire at his school.
The BBC reports that a suspect named as Bruco Strong Eagle Eastwood, 32, allegedly commenced firing at pupils with a rifle in the car park at Deer Trail Middle School in Littleton.
But two-fisted corduroy David Benke, on duty in the car park, responded the moment he heard the first shot fired, tackling Eastwood without hesitation. From his testimony it's clear that, fortunately, the weapon was bolt- or lever-action rather than gas-operated.
"Unfortunately he got another round off before I could grab him," said the heroic Mr Benke, a 6' 5" former college basketball player.
"He figured out that he wasn't going to be able to get another round chambered before I got to him so he dropped the gun and then we were kind of struggling around trying to get him subdued."
Another gutsy educator apparently joined Benke and the two swiftly overpowered the obstreperous Eastwood, whose shots had injured two Deer Trail pupils. One of the stricken nippers is said to be doing well in hospital: the other was discharged after treatment.
Eastwood reportedly made bail on Wednesday pending trial. As this was set at a million dollars, he will no doubt attract the attention of top-line bounty hunters should he fail to appear for his court date. [Updated to add: It appears the Beeb's statement that Eastwood "was bailed" is a little misleading. His bail was apparently set at $1m in cash, which has not been forthcoming and thus Eastwood remains behind bars.]
Facebook fan messages for Benke are already in the hundreds, including one from Sherry Erhardt Wynne saying simply: "You saved lives of innocent children, and as a parent, I say thank you. And way to go!"
We've had occasion in these pages now and then to report some dispiriting things about members of the teaching community, but today it's a positive pleasure to write about one who covers his profession with glory.
We'd hazard a bet, too, that Mr Benke has few problems with classroom discipline.
The Beeb writeup is here. ®
COMMENTS
Guns vs Doctors
I saw this on a gun forum I frequent. Yes I do live in the UK and yes i do shoot guns legally.
Doctors vs Gunowners
Doctors
(A) The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000.
(B) Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year are 120,000.
(C) Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171.
Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services.
Now think about this:
Gun Owners
(A) The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000. (Yes, that's 80 million)
(B) The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500.
(C) The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is 0.000188
Statistics courtesy of FBI
So, statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.
Remember, 'Guns don't kill people, doctors do..'
FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT ALMOST EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR.
Please alert your friends to this alarming threat.
We must ban doctors before this gets completely out of hand!!!!!
Out of concern for the public at large, I withheld the statistics on Lawyers for fear the shock would cause people to panic and seek medical attention!
@John Smith 19:
Amazing how often Americans only ever quote the "Right to bear arms" part of their Second Amendment. Maybe you missed the qualifier which makes it painfully obvious that said right was only ever intended for *organized militia*.
Here's the quote in full:
"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." (This is the wording ratified by the States; Congress passed a version with slightly different punctuation.)
Now, take a look at the history books. Towns, villages and the like were required—in the era before formal, standing armies and organised police forces—to respond to a "hue and cry", to address criminal activities and so forth. THAT is what the Second Amendment is referring to. Today, we'd call this kind of law enforcement "vigilanteism", but it was once an accepted form of maintaining law and order.
While vast rural areas of the US have a valid claim that it can easily take over half an hour for a policeman to get to their property, this does not explain the utterly bizarre claim that everyone in *urban* areas has a "right" to carry guns around while doing their weekly shopping as if this was what the Second Amendment's authors originally intended.
Fair enough
Ah, ok then. I went to school in the 70s/80s, but never heard that expression before.
Maybe it never made it to scotland. We used to call our teachers "bastards"
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