Multiple law enforcement officers engaged the shooter who killed 10 and wounded 10 at Santa Fe High School in Texas Friday morning.
That’s according to Texas Department of Public Safety director Steve McCraw.
The shooter is in custody after deciding not to kill himself, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said.
McCraw stepped to the microphone at a Friday afternoon press conference and bluntly described the role of a police officer in an active shooter situation.
“First and foremost, when you get these calls, every police officer, no matter where you are, has to immediately engage the active shooter, period,” McCraw said. “There’s no alternative, because every second, someone else is going to die.”
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“In this situation you had that,” he continued, going on to explain that the actions of the police in the building stopped the shooter.
“The brave officers, independent school district here in Santa Fe, stepped up to the plate, engaged. One is in critical condition right now. The other one, the chief got there on scene, was able to rescue his officer, and a Texas state trooper also engaged the suspect. And we know that because they were willing to run in to that building … other lives could be saved. That’s absolutely important.”
One of the Texas police officers was shot and severely wounded when he engaged the shooter. The officer has not been identified and is in the hospital.
The actions of the Texas officers present a stark contrast to the actions of the Broward County Sheriff school resource officer during the Parkland, Florida shooting earlier this year.
Scot Peterson, a former deputy with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, stood outside the school and failed to enter one of the school buildings while the gunman rampaged through the school, killing 17. Peterson was named in a wrongful death lawsuit by Andrew Pollack, father of one of the students murdered in Parkland.