The school shooting was over in seconds. But it could have dragged on longer and proven deadlier were it not for the rapid response of a school resource officer.
When a 17-year-old gunman walked into Maryland’s Great Mills High School on Tuesday, the swift action of the school’s sole resource officer, Blaine Gaskill, was instrumental in bringing the incident to a quick end.
Gaskill’s response was hailed as an example of exactly what a resource officer is supposed to do in such a circumstance, particularly when contrasted to the actions of the security officer in last month’s shooting in Parkland, Florida. (In the incident at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, the armed school resource deputy waited outside the school building as the shooter gunned down students inside.)
“He responded exactly how we train our personnel to respond,” St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim Cameron told reporters.
