CNN: "Female Security Guard Hailed as Hero"... "saved 'hundreds of lives'"

www.cnn.com ^ | December 10, 2007 | CNN

[ctdonath2]

A “hero” is someone who goes way beyond their chosen/assigned duties, at great personal cost above any risk inherent in the job.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Police said a man with a beard, wearing a dark jacket, glasses, and skullcap, entered the facility, got into a dispute with a staff member about whether he could stay there for the night, and then opened fire.

Hmmm...and the police have not released the shooter's identity for some reason. Maybe I'm paranoid, but this suspiciously sounds like a Religion of Peace incident.

[Guenevere]

If the gunman had an automatic weapon and there were thousands at the church, it’s not hard to extrapolate “hundreds” being spared.

[Publius6961]

... And she ran towards the shots. I wish some other Colorado law enforcement would have had her desire to save lives around 8 years ago.

Or those macho, posturing, SWAT types in Blacksburg, VA eight months ago...

[Fixit]

This wasn't in the body of the article, but for posterity, the following is off of the top right of the CNN page.

Story Highlights

• NEW: Two teenage sisters killed, father wounded
• Guard who killed gunman was volunteer from congregation
• Police chief cites reason to suspect link to earlier attack on missionary center
• Police from two cities were searching an address overnight in Englewood

(Bolding emphasis mine.)

[Southack]

“The alleged gunman in the shootings at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is 23-year-old Matthew Murray, CNN confirms.”

[Domandred]

I'm confused. Too many shooting headlines in the last week.

Is this the same shooting that four missionaries were killed a few days ago? Or is this like the third church shooting in the last week?

[DoughtyOne]

Okay, then there are no heros in Iraq. I appreciate the update.

I guess I’ll just have to be the only one objecting to this definition of a hero.

[papertyger]

I would say so, considering the shooter had body armor and a helmet on.

This seems to be a disturbing trend among the whack-job class.

Making the FN Five-seveN increasingly more attractive.

[khnyny]

Now, this is the kind of woman who should be running for POTUS, not “anti-saint Hillary of perpetual victimhood”.

[ctdonath2]

Of note: GA forbids carry in churches.

[nonsporting]

All we get in the first paragraph is that a parishioner shot and killed a visitor to the church.

Many "visitors" will think twice about attending this church.

Why didn't the security "volunteer" TURN THE OTHER CHEEK, as we are often counseled in our faith?

[kidd]

A hero is someone who selflessly performs an unpleasant task without regard to their own well being because of their concern for the welfare of strangers.

Their training and their job are irrelevant to the definition.

Soldiers in Iraq are heros. Policeman are heros. Firemen are heros. The passengers on flight 93 were heros. This woman is a hero.

This is not a watered-down definition. Under my definition, parents are not heros (the concern is for non-strangers). Mercenaries and bounty-hunters are not heros (their concern is payment of a large reward).

So I disagree that use of the term “hero” is inappropriate in this case.

[From One - Many]

Thanks

[driftdiver]

“Like many other words and phrases in our country, hero is losing some of its meaning by excessive usage.”

Hero is getting diluted but she is a hero. She coulda run the other way and called police. Heck the police in Columbine didn’t even take as much action as she did.

You can do your job and be a hero. BTW, she was a volunteer and so technically it wasn’t even a job.

[Tijeras_Slim]

She was just a civilian parishoner like any other, who volunteered for security duty, unpaid, no uniform, using her own personal weapon.

Sounds like the Founding Fathers had it right again.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

Eloquently spoken.

[Travis McGee]

I just image googled "Beard skullcap glasses."

If he's not a rabbi, he's like a member of the ROP.

[seekthetruth]

I will also, and God Bless this brave woman!