Unlikely Hero's of Aztec High School Shooting Include 74 Year Old Teacher

Teacher Kathleen "Katie" Potter (courtesy of Kathleen Potter)

There is a report out praising a 74 year old substitute teacher as a hero for barricading her classroom with a couch.  Kathleen Potter is the substitute teacher who wedged a couch up against the door in an effort to keep her students safe.  She didn't have a key to lock the classroom door, so she hid the students in a storage room and put a couch against the door.  Talk about quick thinking and pretty darned impressive for a 74 year old woman.  Our hats are off to you Mrs. Potter!  The gunman was able to enter the classroom and began shooting at the room where the 17 students were hiding on the ground.  Thankfully nobody was hit.  Potter said she has actually

Kathleen "Katie" Potter

gone through several active shooter drills throughout her teaching career and that prepared her for what happened that day.  She's a hero in my eyes.

Also credited with bravery is school custodian Thomas Hill.  He reportedly first heard the shots and saw the shooter.  He followed him and warned school officials to lock down the school.  He showed extreme bravery for actually following a man with a gun who was shooting at random.  If not for these brave acts and a very fast police response, who knows how bad this could have been.  It seems clear that 21 year old William Atchison intended to kill as many people as he could as he was found with "multiple" magazines on him.

It has been determined that he encountered victim Francisco Fernandez in the restroom and shot him, walked into the hallway and then encountered the second victim - Casey Marquez.  He shot and killed her. Atchison continued through the hallway shooting off rounds.  I can't imagine what would have happened had the students been just entering school or at their lockers.  They would not have stood a chance.  Two victims is bad enough, but thankfully it wasn't as bad as the cowardly shooter intended. 

William Atchison reportedly lived with his parents in Aztec and worked at a gas station.  There are reports that in 2016, there was a Federal Investigation into comments Atchison made in an online gaming room about committing a mass shooting using an assault rifle - he was looking for advice!  When the FBI interviewed Atchison about the perceived threat, he was said to be "cooperative" and convinced the FBI he was just "trolling the Internet".  The case was closed as no crime had been committed.  This just goes to show no threat should be taken lightly.  I'm sure there are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of comments online that could be similar in nature and it's nearly impossible to predict who would really follow through with a mass shooting.  It's just a shame there was a red flag last year and there were still fatalities.

Aztec Vigil

I believe there are just too many guns in America.  You don't hear about mass shootings very often in countries with strict gun control laws.  There are still tragedies and murders, but not these mass shootings that are becoming all too familiar across America.  

Also credited with limiting the casualties is the Aztec Police Department, who reportedly were dispatched and arrived within minutes.  See below for the dispatch call:

Courtesy of Broadcastify.com and Channel 4 KOB

This is a good police story, as opposed to the Baltimore PD mess I've been writing about for the last week.  Thankfully the Aztec PD was alert and ready to go - they weren't out robbing citizens or assisting drug organizations with their heroin distribution business.  OK, I know that was cynical but I'm still so outraged at the broken trust of these officers who are supposed to protect and serve, not rob and pillage.

Back to Aztec High School.  Students, teachers and to the whole community - we feel your pain and will not forget what you lost on that awful day.  We stand with you and support you fully and pray that your pain lessens with time.  God bless your community.