Technology and training a focus after Nashville school shooting
WASHINGTON (TND) — Amid the tragedy in the Nashville school shooting and the killing of three children and three adults, early assessments indicate police response was quick and organized -- a contrast to what was seen in the Uvalde, Texas shooting that claimed 21 lives.
In Nashville, it was a 14-minute timeline. In Texas, police waited 77 minutes before confronting the shooter.
One took action, and one didn’t. That’s all you can take from it. From the beginning of the body camera video, they had a key to the door, they knew what they were doing. In Uvalde, you saw chaos, lack of decision making and inaction,” said Joshua Skule, a former FBI official and agent who is now president and founder of Bow Wave LLC.
Skule said more cities providing more hyper-focused training on these scenarios is key.
(We're) making sure that our law enforcement personnel have the ability to do this type of training, we’re vetting the right folks to be coming in, and holding them to a professional standard, and then supporting them is really important so that we as citizens have the services that we’ve come to expect from our law enforcement professionals,” said Skule.
Lessons learned are reaching Washington, too, as lawmakers debate the needs for everything from gun control to added funding for mental health.
Others, like this team of former Navy Seals are developing technology to quickly identify shooters before they even pull the trigger.
I think we all found when we left the Seal Teams a lack of purpose, a lack of unity, and that's what we sought to regain here with a noble mission," Sam Alaimo, co-founder of ZeroEyes, said.
On assignment for "Full Measure," The National Desk got rare access to see how -- in their own Hollywood-grade green-screen studio -- they’ve created a computer program using security cameras to automatically recognize all types of weapons. They then send those images to a staff of military veterans at ZeroEyes headquarters, where they instantly warn people in danger and alert law enforcement.
They said it's vital because it is common for shooters to have their weapon out sometimes minutes before a shot is fired.
Scott: So, in here, you can be in a casino, you can be in a shopping mall, you can be in a high school?
Rob Huberty: Absolutely.
Scott: Because in here you're training it, every angle, what they would look like.
Rob Huberty: On every type of camera that you possibly could have.
Now in use in 25 states, the system can track the shooter and determine which exits are safe to use; cutting down on confusion that occurs in a mass shooting.
Experts said preventing the next incident, requires rare, but a still possible combination of technology, training and help from Washington.
