The accused killer in last week’s mass shooting at a Florida high school fled the home where he was living in November after a violent episode. Punches had been thrown, household items broken. The 19-year-old went to a nearby park and called 911.

“I kind of got mad and I started punching walls and stuff,” Nikolas Cruz told the dispatcher, his voice trembling during a 5½ minute call, according to police records released this week. “The thing is I lost my mother a couple weeks ago, so like, I’m dealing with a bunch of [inaudible] right now.”

“I understand,” said the female dispatcher.

Mr. Cruz wasn’t the only one to call police right after the fight, the records show. In a separate 911 call, a woman said she had taken him in after his mother died. She described the altercation between her adult son and Mr. Cruz, and her worries that Mr. Cruz had stormed off to get a gun from a nearby store.

“Because that’s all he wants is his gun, and that’s all he cares about is his gun,” the woman said in a recording of the late November call released by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

She said Mr. Cruz had a bunch of ammunition. She also said he planned to bury a gun in her backyard, that he had put his guns to his brother’s head, thrown objects and hit the walls of her home. “I cannot have him on the premises now,” said the woman.

The caller’s name was redacted by the sheriff’s office, but her description of the events indicate she is Rocxanne Deschamps, a 42-year-old—who took in Nikolas Cruz and his younger brother. She couldn’t be reached for comment.

The late November calls are the latest examples of how Mr. Cruz’s volatile temperament was flagged to or by authorities—from the school district to social services, two local sheriff’s departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Through a combination of human error, legal limitations and judgment calls, none of these agencies were able to stop Mr. Cruz before one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history.

I heard what I think sounds like a pretty damned good proposal to help mitigate these kinds of events. Those of you who are not interested in "stopgap solutions" go ahead and shit on it.

I just happened to be in the truck heading to town for some supplies and I turned on a certain radio station and a caller was talking to the host about one of the things they have done in their city. Seems there was a shortage of space for all of the officers/work that needed doing at the local cop shop so they decided instead of using a lot of tax dollars for a new building they would set up satellite police offices in the schools in the district. Its of course anecdotal but the particular caller, a city council member, said they haven't had any school violence issues since.

I heard what I think sounds like a pretty damned good proposal to help mitigate these kinds of events. Those of you who are not interested in "stopgap solutions" go ahead and shit on it.

I just happened to be in the truck heading to town for some supplies and I turned on a certain radio station and a caller was talking to the host about one of the things they have done in their city. Seems there was a shortage of space for all of the officers/work that needed doing at the local cop shop so they decided instead of using a lot of tax dollars for a new building they would set up satellite police offices in the schools in the district. Its of course anecdotal but the particular caller, a city council member, said they haven't had any school violence issues since.

Here's some more food for thought. When people started hijacking airplanes we had metal detectors installed at airports and put Sky Marshals aboard planes. Since then we haven't had many hijackings.

Courthouses have metal detectors and armed guards. Not many courthouses get shot up.

Its already been explained to me elsewhere that these are stopgap measures that would just psychologically damage our fragile kids and make their schools into fortresses and that we should focus on re-instituting a constitutional milita instead and then we can "stop the gaps"

That's what I can't understand. All the "blissninnies" say that any armed guards would damage the kids. Don't they think that a gunman who knows the kids are unprotected does a lot more damage?

FWIW, It really wouldn't take armed guards to put an end to the type of shootings we see at schools today. Just like the Courthouses and Airports, single point entry, with or without metal detectors. Someone observing who is trying to gain entry and what kids are carrying would have stopped most. People are already conditioned to this type of security when they go to a ball game, concert, etc. Emergency exits should still be unrestricted (but alarmed when opened) but entry to the buildings should be a lot more secure than it is today.

FWIW, my phone keeps buzzing with more news releases on who knew what and when they knew it regarding the shooter in Florida. There's more than one smoking gun in this case and there a few individuals that should be publicly fired. Parents should also sue the shit out of those that were aware of the shooters potential for danger and did nothing.

A memo came out in my high school in 1977 telling the students to take down their hunting rifles out of gun racks in the back of pick up trucks during school hours due to a break in that occurred. You see, during the fall, a lot of us went to catch that last couple hours of daylight hunting deer after school.

Interesting times we live in.

Oh, and if you were late to school, you didn't get in until you called the front office (from a payphone outside the school) who then let you in. The doors were LOCKED during school hours.(from the outside)
Never have had a school shooting at Forest Lake High School.
Simple solution to a perceived complicated problem.

Lucky for me, both of my son's schools are teaching Run-Hide-Fight. One is in 5th grade, the other is a sophomore. Olympia SD for the win on this one. Also, the school shouldn't be ingraining anything. It's the parents job to teach their kids self worth, self respect, self discipline and self defense.