West Coast, Messed Coast™ Report: A Time When Police Knew How to Respond to a Mass Shooting

Welcome to the West Coast, Messed Coast™ Report. I, your humble news sherpa, will take you on a tour of the most naturally blessed region of the country, which is also the most troubled and filled with the wokest and spiritually brokest bunch of elected people in the land.

But first, our hearts here at the West Coast, Messed Coast™ Report go out to victims’ families and the entire community of Uvalde, Texas, where grandma took the phone away from her grandson and was shot for performing this minimal amount of parenting. Then, the gunned up, eyeliner-wearing Call of Duty addict decided to do what he’d previously announced he’d do on social media: go to a school and kill a bunch of kids.

We’ll leave the psychological forensics for later, but the police response is looking — in a word — horrible.

It’s here that the West Coast, Messed Coast™ Report can offer some insights on proper police response to an active shooter. We go back to 2012, to the Clackamas, Ore., Towne Center Mall, previously best known as the venue for Tonya Harding’s Olympics training lo those many years, broken laces, and kneecaps ago.

A troubled young man with a stolen rifle traveled to the mall, where he wanted to kill Christmas shoppers. He murdered two and seriously wounded another before an armed shopper and former security guard, Nick Meli, hoisted his Glock (which he was not supposed to have in the mall) and drew down on the bad guy. He didn’t fire, due to innocents hiding in stores behind the murderer, but it was enough to stop the homicidal man. The gunman ducked around a corner and killed himself.

The trained good guy with a gun is a great story. But what’s also notable here is the police response; the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Department took seconds to get there because their station was so close by. They met outside, and when they had a mere handful of officers, established a hunting cell to go inside the mail and hunt the bastard down. They didn’t wait for a tactical team; they were the tactical team.

I wrote about the Clackamas police response at the time:

From the moment of the first report of an “active shooter” at Clackamas Town Center, it took Sheriff’s officials less than three minutes to arrive, set up a command center, arrange for back up and begin to set a perimeter to keep the bad guy inside. Fifty seven seconds after that, the first [law enforcement] sniper showed up.

Within four minutes the Clackamas County Sheriff’s command had a description of the shooter and the first “hunting cell” of tactical officers inside and beginning the clearing of the mall.

The scanner reflects a near flawless execution of mutual aid from nearby municipalities.

Uvalde has a different set of variables, but one thing Texas doesn’t have is a shortage of people with guns. Why didn’t the cops swarming outside go in sooner to shoot that animal and save more kids? Weren’t they trained for active shooting situations? And if so, how long ago was that?

Twenty or so miles away from Clackamas, downtown Portland business owners just found out from the President of the United States that the the 2020 and 2021 Antifa and BLM riots — featuring millions and millions of dollars in damage, lost lives, hospitalized cops, and vanished business — “unified people of every race and generation.” Joe Biden venerated the attempted destruction of the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse, the torching of police agencies, the assassination of a Trump supporter on the street, and assaults of Portlanders who happened to be in their paths.

Even woke Portland must see how disgusting these remarks are.

BIDEN: "Two summers ago, in the middle of the pandemic, we saw protests across the nation the likes of which we hadn't seen since the 1960's. They unified people of every race and generation." pic.twitter.com/e79AJLSmJh

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 25, 2022

California’s one-party voters are yawning their way to the June 7 primary election. The top two candidates in each of the fields will go on to the November 2022 general election ballot. I just consulted my ballot to see that Eric Garcetti — the woke, inept, breath-holding, yoga-pants-wearing LA Mayor — is term-limited out of a job, and candidates for his replacement will now be winnowed down. His grace-and-favor job as Joe Biden’s Ambassador to India appears to have winnowed away as well, after it turns out he looked the other way as one of his closest staffers preyed on his employees. Better luck next time, Eric.

One of the most interesting races is for state auditor. Hoover Institution certified smart guy Lanhee Chen is running and promises to be a “check on the one-party monopoly in Sacramento” and to “expose fraud & waste in government, & ensure we can account for every penny our state spends.” Imagine if California could figure out where all those COVID-19 funds went — besides San Quentin prison, I mean.

Speaking of which, other jobs on the ballot include California governor — just as Gov. Gavin Newsom announces a big new basketfull of money from Joe Biden to ensure his re-election. Gotta keep the Democrat bench well stocked!

Kamala Harris’s replacement in her empty-suit senate seat is on the primary ballot, both for serving out her current term as well as for the new full term beginning Jan. 3, 2023. California’s one-party rulers have deemed it’s Alex Padilla’s turn for a Washington, D.C. gig…Yeah, because that Xavier Becerra HHS gig is working out so well.

Also on the ballot is one of the more interesting choices for governor: Michael Shellenberger, who wrote the book San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities, might do well in the top-two primary.

My ballot says Shellenberger “has no party preference” but has been a progressive on many issues throughout the years. However, his retreat from woke climate alarmism and the progressive anything-goes drug and homeless “solutions” has resonated with Californians who are sick of being required to deal with $7/gallon gas, water rationing prospects, and wildfire-sparking homeless encampments ruining their lives.

Shellenberger has done more than talk about the issues: he’s shining a light on them. Though I don’t share his government-edict approach to homelessness, I am thankful that he is willing to get his hands dirty.

Here he is, interviewing a “Housing First” advocate who says that stacking drug-addicted people in housing actually doesn’t help.