After a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas sparked a conversation about school safety, a Tennessee sheriff sent a strong message to those who might consider perpetrating violence in his county’s schools.
“Due to the recent school shootings, the latest occurring in Texas, as your Sheriff, who provides the Student Resource Deputies in each of the public schools in Putnam County, I want to provide a message to anyone thinking about committing an act of violence that would harm our children or faculty at our schools,” Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris said in a statement.
“Our Student Resource Deputies and SWAT are the most highly trained Deputies within the United States, including in the areas of active shooter situations and other violent crimes against the public,” said Farris. “If you are a bad guy and come into our schools with a gun, or any other kind of weapon, with the intention of causing harm to our faculty or children, our Deputies will eliminate you immediately.”
The message is a subtle reference to the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department’s handling of the shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 21 people dead, including 19 children.
The school system’s Chief of Police Pete Arredondo has largely been in hiding since the event, as he faces calls for accountability. It has been widely reported that the now-Uvalde city councilman waited for more than an hour to send police forces into the school to stop the shooter.
Arredondo also allegedly did not have a radio for communication purposes during the event.
“Our Deputies are trained to run towards the threat/violence no matter the cost – even if it costs them their own lives in order to keep our children safe,” Farris said in an apparent nod towards Arredondo. “We will not wait on backup, including other law enforcement or SWAT. If we have not eliminated the threat by the time other law enforcement arrives, then we have failed at what we’re trained to do.”
“Let me be clear: there is nothing more important that [sic] our children’s safety and we will take whatever action necessary to accomplish this task.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Sheriff Eddie Farris” by Putnam County Sheriff. Background Photo “Classroom” by Wokandapix.
