A terrible, terrible tragedy.

[Roland]

On the first bit, how experienced are you in practical law enforecement?

On the second, I fear you are right. Live your life with no regrets, each day, so that if your day comes sooner, rather than later, you've given a good accounting of yourself. That, at least, is within your power to control, where so much in this life is not.

Occhi

Well, I can honestly and safely say that my experience will not ever live up to your own, so I suppose I should take your judgment over my own personal beliefs.

I don't know what to think, Occhi. Like all of us, I wish there was something we could have done "different" to change things, to have prevented it or lessened it. I'm pragmatic and realistic enough to know that's not entirely possible, but screw-ups do happen, and I wonder whether or not it happened here.

As I said, I may just be colored by my small-town mind. I can only guess at how difficult it would be to lock down such a large location, so any opinions I have on the matter of what should have been done are going to be just that: opinions, based on nothing more than a whim, really. I freely concede that.

I guess I just don't have much faith in authority, nor human beings in general. Never have, and it seems to get worse each year. Maybe everything was done right, and there was absolutely nothing that could have been done to lessen or prevent this disaster once the ball got rolling. I'm sure there were plenty of things that could have been done beforehand, in the months leading up to all this, but even that is asking a great deal.

In the end, all I hope for is peace for those affected and some semblance of order among the chaos this can bring about, in the media, politics, etc. I think I've given up on trying to figure out "coulda, woulda, shoulda". It's just not my place to hold such strict judgment, especially given that I know so little about it all.

As always, your insight is an eye-opener.