We live in an unfortunate world in which law enforcement officers are often targeted for both verbal and physical abuse, and that’s on top of the very real danger of violence as they do their jobs of working to get criminals off of the streets.
That is terrible; it isn’t a surprise, though. No one becomes a police officer, for example, without expecting to have to deal with being shot at by criminals.
That same expectation doesn’t tend to extend to other public servants, though.
Take firefighters, for example. These brave people work to minimize fire damage and to save lives when fires occur.
Now, though, they may have to add being targets of active shooters to their list of job expectations. Candace Hathaway writes,
Idaho firefighters were dispatched around 1:21 p.m. Sunday after receiving a call about a brush fire in the woods on Canfield Mountain near Coeur d’Alene; roughly 40 minutes later, first responders reported coming under gunfire.
Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris initially announced that first responders were “actively taking sniper fire,” and he added that “we don’t know if there’s one, two, three, or four [shooters].”
First responders made urgent calls for help on their radios, the Associated Press reported: “Everybody’s shot up here … send law enforcement now.”
More than 300 law enforcement officers and the FBI responded to the scene, the New York Times reported.
Two firefighters were shot and killed; a third firefighter was wounded.
Norris said it appeared the sniper was hiding in the rugged terrain and using a high-powered rifle, the AP reported, adding that the sheriff said he instructed deputies to fire back.
Authorities later discovered the body of the suspected gunman with a weapon nearby. They moved the body as the fire spread. It wasn’t clear how the alleged male gunman died.
Authorities believe the gunman intentionally set the fire in order to lure firefighters to the scene.
It’s just unbelievable how someone who, it was later reported, had ambitions of being a firefighter would (allegedly) set a fire in order to bring firefighters to the scene in order to murder them.
It’s horrible enough that anyone would target other people with murderous intentions, but to target people whose entire job is to save lives is beyond the pale.
The fact of the matter is that you never know when an unhinged person is going to bring the violence to you. You can, however, do your best to be prepared so that you can live to see another day.
Train with your firearm and carry daily. And give a good word to your local firefighters when you see them. They have a tough job to do without being targeted by those with evil intent.
