Reprinted from Texas Observer, 1/22/26

"Dr. Lisa Ross, author of the book School Shootings in American Culture, said this gap between expectations—promoted by police leaders themselves as well as those counting on their protection—and reality represents a profound problem. 

After the 1999 Columbine mass shooting, which involved a Uvalde-esque period of police inaction, it became the expectation and standard practice for any cop to immediately confront the shooter, rather than waiting for backup or more tactically trained units to arrive. 

“Columbine broke the mold,” Ross said. “The next thing is, ‘Well, what do we do?’ And the answer was, ‘There’s no time to get a team together.’ So the first person on the scene needs to do what we would have done.” In other words, it would no longer be accepted, at least theoretically, to let the death count rise inside a school while waiting for SWAT to arrive.

“The public expects you to sacrifice your life for the innocent children and staff,” Ross said. “That’s the public’s expectation, but that’s different than what actually goes on in law enforcement.'"