On May 27, 2022, an 18-year-old gained entrance to an elementary school. Armed with a military-grade weapon, he began slaughtering young children and teachers.

Several of these children called 911 begging for help. The police responded, only to cower in a hallway for an hour while the gunman continued to shoot. When a U.S. border patrol unit entered, the cowardly police tried to prevent them from entering the room where the gunman continued to shoot.

The border patrol officers finally forced their way through the police, entered the classroom and killed the shooter. This entire incident was a brazen act of cowardice in battle.

If this was a military operation, every policeman that cowered in that hall would be court-martialed and put in prison.

The same thing happened at Columbine in Colorado. Heavily armed and protected with gear, officers cowered in the parking lot. The officer whose job was to provide school security at the Florida school shooting actually hid from the gunman. That officer was later charged with negligent homicide and ended up in jail.

That is what needs to be done with every officer who hid and cowered in that hallway. That should include Chief Peter Arredondo.

The justice department is investigating the incident. I hope they do a better job than they did for the U.S. gymnastics team.

Edward Flick, Boyers