<p>I played the interview over, and she said that “I lost my husband after 33 years.” Didn’t he pass away?</p>
<p>I love the way she handled the reporter’s questions. She was so meticulous about telling her story accurately. And she was so humble about was is true heroism.</p>
<p>No. And I was a crisis line worker for a few years. I have talked to women who were fleeing a gun or locked themselves in a bathroom away from gunmen. However, if I had the gun actually there with me, I don’t think I’d have the strength to do this. </p>
<p>This woman is nothing short of a hero and I wish she was getting more recognition.</p>
<p>God bless this woman. She has amazing strength and compassion. True grace under pressure. I hope that someone steps in to help her with her own burdens.</p>
<p>I was also pretty impressed with the 911 operator. I am not sure how the two developed a rapport so quickly but they seemed to be on exactly the same page throughout.</p>
<p>The Presidential Medal of Freedom, definitely. So often it goes to some trendy person or some political crony-- Oprah Winfrey? Gimme a break. Ms. Tuff deserves the medal one million times more than some TV personality.</p>
<p>Amazing and I agree-the 911 operator was also very impressive.</p>
<p>As a male I had to notice that upon arrival of the authority dudes with the guns all kinds of yelling at the shooter and stomping got started. </p>
<p>That chaos was in stark contrast to the calm AT had provided.</p>
<p>Good point, 07DAD. The atmosphere changed dramatically. greenwich, I agree that she looks awfully young for her age. Even if she married at 18, 33 years of marriage plus perhaps another one since he left her puts her over 50. </p>
<p>I thought that her husband had died, too, at first. Who knows why he left her, but some men skip out of marriages that include a disabled child. I’ve seen this first-hand with a friend/neighbor. Devoted, strong, smart, resourceful mother, wimpy, irresponsible, waste-of-the-air-he’s-breathing father who ditches the family. Not that I’m making any assumptions about Antoinette’s ex-husband. They were married for 33 years so he does not seem to be the kind of man who bails at the first sign of trouble.</p>
<p>I think she should be recruited for a new career: hostage negotiator. She is wasted working in the office of a school that will probably not be invaded again by an armed man.</p>
<p>Keep in mind AT also told him she had attempted suicide a short while back. The suicide, “getting left” and multiple disabilities kid could have been made up as a way to connect with him. It still doesn’t change anything about what she did.</p>
<p>She has a goodfundme page with $65K in pledges so far. Seems to be for underprivileged kids, a good cause no doubt. Nothing against her, she seems to be an amazing person, but wow, it’s so easy to cash in on 5 minutes of fame these days.</p>
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<p>I was confused that the police didn’t send in the pro in that kind of situation. You’d think they would have had a very calm negotiator in charge of the police team, who would have instructed the other officers to be calm and not yell, to try to get out of the situation without any shooting.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if we are commenting on the same thing. </p>
<p>In the full 911 tape you can hear the officers rush into the office where AT and the shooter were located after AT hit the buzzer and let them in at the requests of the shooter. These guys (plural) are shouting just like on TV and you can hear them clomping about. </p>
<p>It was already “over” and the shooter was lying on the floor arms behind his back with the AK-47 on the counter and his pockets empty.</p>
<p>We are commenting on the same thing. It was already “over”, but it could have been not over if the shooter had started getting crazy again. He could have leapt for his gun or something.</p>
<p>It seems to me that in that situation, the officers should have walked in quietly and calmly (with guns drawn, I suppose) instead of yelling. The situation was calm, and in my opinion they could have and should have kept it that way.</p>
<p>The police are trained to handle this in a certain way for a reason. </p>
<p>They could not know for sure that the suspect was unarmed. He could have lied. He could have had yet another weapon near him or on him. They could not just “believe” he put them all down. They had to secure the situation. They probably were not even convinced there was not another person involved. They needed to secure the entire scene.</p>
<p>I was in crisis intervention for a number of years. This would have scared the bejeebers out of me! This woman was great, maybe even better than a professional. She was exactly what this mentally ill man needed.</p>
<p>I hope that she gets a huge award because she deserves even more fame than the nut cases that commit horrible crimes and then sell their story or something.</p>
<p>Sent from my Nexus S 4G using CC</p>
<p>I live in the county where this occured and have children in the same school system.</p>
<p>I am so incredibly proud of Ms. Tuff and the system is fortunate that she is an employee. Our school system is in tremendous trouble and is hemoragging employees. In fact, the person who was supposed to be at the desk is brand new.</p>
<p>[Antoinette</a> Tuff hailed as ‘true hero’ out of Georgia school shooting - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/21/us/georgia-school-gunshots]Antoinette”>http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/21/us/georgia-school-gunshots)</p>
<p>"A man slips behind someone else into a packed elementary school with an AK-47-type weapon. He goes into the office and shoots at the ground, then darts between there and outside to fire at approaching police.</p>
<p>So what do you do?</p>
<p>If you’re Antoinette Tuff, who works in the front office at Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy just outside Atlanta, you don’t run. You talk. You divulge your personal struggles to the gunman, you tell him you love him, you even proactively offer to walk outside with him to surrender so police won’t shoot."</p>
<p>I think I would have just fainted dead away.</p>