Woman hits gunman with purse

[Sir James A]

http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2010/12/video-brave-woman-hits-florida-gunman.html

There's another video that shows the actual footage, which is easy enough to find. The general story goes:

* Man pulls gun on room during a school board meeting
* Man tells everyone to leave except 6 people on the board
* Woman hides in a small area outside of the room
* Woman attacks the gunman's gun hand when his back is turned to her
* Man knocks the woman to the ground
* The board members sit silently and poo themselves (rather than capitalizing on the opening)
* Woman gets a second chance to escape
* Gunman rants for a bit, then starts firing shots at the board members
* Security guard is finally able to hit the shooter
* Shooter misses every shot fired at the board, before finally turning his gun on himself after being shot by security

Lots of praise to the woman for her heroic effort, and honestly, shame on the male board members for not taking the opportunity to disarm and subdue the gunman when his back was turned to them and the woman had given them the opening. Had the gunman not been such a poor shot (he misses at approximately 4 feet away), one or more of the board members might not be alive.

[Sir Edward]

Yeah, I really have to say the woman was very brave, though really, did she think her purse would just knock the gun away? She needed to go for the head, or knock him over or something. Ideally, if there was a door in that alcove, she probably should have just gone and gotten security.

That's the biggest problem with trying to be a hero in situations like this. Everyone else will just watch instead of trying to help. If just one or two of the men helped jump the guy after she attacked his head, they could have quickly gotten control, but none of that happened.

[Sir William]

There is a term for that...it is called the bystander syndrome which was first noted in the aftermath of the stabbing death of Kitty Genovese; a young woman whose stabbing attack and subsequent death by injuries was witnessed at least in part by 38 separate witnesses who did nothing even though they heard what was going on ...hoping someone ELSE would take the initiative.

That woman was brave but also foolhardy...I'm just glad that it didn't end in tragedy and thank God shooting a gun isn't as easy as Hollywood would have you believe.