NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Accidental shootings raise questions about arming teachers
By MARTHA BELLISLE
Associated Press
SEATTLE — As the
country looks for ways
to deal with mass shoot-
ings at schools, some have
responded by saying more
people should carry guns,
including teachers.
“The only way to stop
a bad guy with a gun is a
good guy with a gun,” Pres-
ident Donald Trump told the
National Rifle Association
convention in April. More
states are allowing teachers
to carry guns, he said, and
“who better to protect our
children than our teachers,
who love them.”
But a close look at unin-
tentional shootings by law
enforcement officers, includ-
ing at schools, raises doubts
about whether more guns
would help keep students
safe.
An Associated Press
investigation has found acci-
dental shootings occur at law
enforcement agencies large
and small across the United
States every year. The exam-
ination of public records and
media reports documented
1,422 unintentional shootings
by officers at 258 agencies
since 2012.
Twenty-two occurred at
schools or college campuses.
At least nine states have
passed laws allowing employ-
ees to carry firearms at K-12
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Doug Tangen, firearms program manager for the Washington State Criminal Justice Training
Commission, poses for a photo near a sign outside a firing range used in the state’s Basic Law
Enforcement Academy in Burien, Wash.
“The idea that anybody
can go to Joe Smith’s School
of Shooting for a day or a
week and become proficient
at shooting a handgun in a
life-and-death situation is a
little bit absurd,” said Doug
Tangen, firearms program
manager at the Washington
State Criminal Justice Train-
ing Commission, the state
police academy.
Shooting a gun requires
psychomotor skills that must
be practiced over and over,
he said.
school grounds, according to
the National School Boards
Association. Nineteen states
allow anyone with permis-
sion from a school authority
to be armed at schools, the
association said.
Experts say anybody car-
rying guns, including teach-
ers, needs ongoing, intensive
training to be able to handle
their firearms proficiently
and respond appropriately
in stressful settings — and
many law enforcement offi-
cers don’t even get that.
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Freezing fog this
morning
Mostly cloudy with
a snow shower
Cloudy with a
couple of showers
Some sun, then
turning cloudy
Mostly cloudy
41° 34°
46° 40°
40° 34°
44° 38°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
52° 40°
43° 26°
48° 35°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
51° 39°
47° 29°
49° 36°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
48/43
43/33
39/31
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
38/33
Lewiston
46/43
40/34
Astoria
50/43
Pullman
Yakima 38/32
46/39
42/36
Portland
Hermiston
47/43
The Dalles 40/34
Salem
Corvallis
46/39
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
43/34
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
46/41
47/32
45/35
Ontario
41/30
Caldwell
Burns
41°
40°
40°
28°
67° (1988) -10° (1932)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
46/41
0.00"
Trace
0.48"
4.95"
6.97"
8.95"
Today
Medford
45/38
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
SALEM — The Pacific
Northwest will see slightly
above normal temperatures
and normal precipitation
throughout the winter, a well-
known weatherman predicts.
Art Douglas, a professor
emeritus of atmospheric sci-
ences at Creighton Univer-
sity in Omaha, Nebraska, is
best known for his presen-
tations at the Spokane Ag
Show every winter.
Warm waters in the North
Pacific and North Atlan-
tic will favor high pres-
sure ridges across the north,
meaning “weak storminess”
for the winter, Douglas told
the Capital Press.
“Especially for you guys
in the Pacific Northwest, it’s
not scary,” he said.
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:24 a.m.
4:11 p.m.
3:29 p.m.
5:36 a.m.
Full
Last
New
First
Dec 11
Dec 18
Dec 25
Jan 2
NATIONAL EXTREMES
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
50s
ice
60s
cold front
E AST O REGONIAN
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Copyright © 2019, EO Media Group
He
predicts
“major
jumps,” from a mild start to
a cold finish, from mildly dry
to much wetter.
The cold in February will
persist into March.
“You go from a cold
March to a warm April back
to a cold May,” Douglas said.
In the spring, the Pacific
Northwest will consistently
trend toward slightly higher
temperatures compared to
the rest of the country.
“No concern in this fore-
cast for you guys (for precipi-
tation),” Douglas said. “Pretty
darn normal in March, some
spotty in April ... and then
you get into May and the
moisture tries to increase up
into the wheat area. If you
want moisture, you want it
in May as it’s really growing,
starting to bloom and all that
kind of good stuff.”
Food stamp change could
affect at least 19,000 in Oregon
eligible for a waiver to six.
SALEM — A new federal rule could
push at least 19,000 people in Oregon off
food stamps next year, according to projec-
tions released by the state Department of
Human Services.
The projection was released in response
to a request from the Statesman Jour-
nal, which reported the rule change will
leave states with less flexibility in allow-
ing able-bodied adults without children to
receive food stamps if they are not working
or in a training program at least 20 hours a
week.
Such adults typically can only get food
stamps for up to three months in a 36-month
period. But states can get waivers to provide
aid longer if the recipient is in an economi-
cally depressed area.
The new rule, which takes effect April 1,
would put in place more stringent require-
ments for when states can receive waivers
for counties. Between January and April,
Oregon would go from having 31 counties
Portland police fatally shoot
man near coffee shop
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
Uncertainty in NOAA
and European forecasts con-
tinues to shift between El
Niño, which means warmer
winters for the Pacific North-
west, and La Niña, which
means colder winters.
Douglas predicts a mild
December and January, with
a cold February. The weather
will be dry at the beginning
of winter and wet in Febru-
ary, in the form of snow.
“One of your biggest
fears are arctic outbreaks,
especially toward the end
of winter that might freeze
the wheat,” he said. “This is
the type of winter where I
would be very cautious as to
what might happen to winter
wheat.”
Douglas says the year
so far appears to be most
like the years 2018, 2014
and 1959.
BRIEFLY
WSW 3-6
WSW 4-8
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 89° in McAllen, Texas Low -22° in Langdon, N.D.
Winter ‘not scary’ for NW
farmers, weatherman says
Wed.
S 3-6
WNW 4-8
Boardman
Pendleton
41/30
for the U.S. Marshals Ser-
vice, said the agency “does
not discuss personnel mat-
ters” when asked if Mullens
faced any disciplinary action
or charges.
Other accidental shoot-
ings at schools occurred
while officers chased or
arrested suspects, taught gun
safety classes, or attended
school events while off-duty,
the AP found. Some injured
officers, teachers or students.
One happened the day
after the mass shooting at
Marjory Stoneman Doug-
las High School in Parkland,
Florida, when a sheriff’s dep-
uty shot himself in the leg
while responding to a report
of a person with a gun at a
school in neighboring Coco-
nut Creek.
Accidental shootings can
occur when an officer is flush
with adrenaline, gets startled
or simply loses his balance.
Ways to avoid them include
following firearms safety
rules and training regularly
and in settings that mirror
real life, experts say.
Steven Karnazes, pres-
ident of Ventura, Califor-
nia-based Advanced Tactical
Training Institute, trains peo-
ple in schools and churches
to prepare for armed attacks.
After taking clients through
classroom safety sessions,
Karnazes teaches firearm
handling by “making things
as realistic as we can.”
WINDS (in mph)
42/30
38/27
0.00"
0.06"
0.41"
11.64"
8.94"
11.88"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 40/30
47/40
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
41/34
41/34
40°
37°
40°
27°
65° (1933) -9° (1972)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
48/39
Aberdeen
38/31
35/29
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
49/43
“Most
people,
cops
included, don’t devote that
practice time to be able to
shoot it responsibly or carry
it responsibly,” he said.
The AP’s investigation
found six accidental shoot-
ings that involved officers
responding to reports of
active shooters.
In 2016, for example,
local, state and federal offi-
cers rushed to Alpine High
School in the small town
of Alpine, Texas, when
a call came in about two
shooters inside.
A half-dozen heavily
armed officers and agents
headed toward the cafeteria,
and then down the hallway
toward classroom No. 24,
thinking the shooter might be
inside.
Just as Homeland Security
Investigations Special Agent
Jon Dangle touched the door-
knob, a shot rang out, and
he fell to the floor. The other
officers grabbed him by his
bulletproof vest and dragged
him to safety.
No one knew where the
shot came from or who fired
it, Dangle said.
“We thought the shooter
was in that classroom,” which
still contained a teacher and
students, he told the AP. “If
they (the other agents) had
opened fire, more would be
dead.”
U.S. Marshal Douglas
Mullens eventually admit-
ted he had accidentally dis-
charged his weapon. He was
carrying a ballistic shield in
one hand and fumbling with
a handgun in the other when
it went off, according to the
Texas Rangers, who investi-
gated the shooting.
Dangle suffered a shat-
tered tibia and torn mus-
cles and nerves. He was out
of work for 15 months and
eventually moved his family
to Oklahoma so he could get
better care.
Dave Oney, a spokesman
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
CORRECTION: In the Dec. 6 article “Winterfest lights up downtown Hermiston”
on page A1, Rep. Greg Smith’s home city was misstated. He is from Heppner.
The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If
you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818.
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PORTLAND — Portland police fatally
shot a person Sunday outside a coffee shop
on the city’s southeast side, The Oregonian/
Oregonlive.com reported.
The shooting about 1:43 p.m. outside
the Starbucks store prompted a large police
response.
Police did not detail what led to the shoot-
ing, and they did not identify the person shot,
The Oregonian/Oregonlive.com reported.
The Police Bureau said in a news release
that no officers were injured in the incident
and that there’s no danger to the public.
A large number of witnesses were brought
aboard a TriMet bus while police investi-
gated, the newspaper reported. Another bus
was nearby when the shooting occurred,
and some on board were being interviewed
as witnesses.
— Associated Press
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