The events that transpired in the entryway of Mott-Regent High School and that classroom in Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, couldn’t be more different; one an officer-involved shooting during a custody dispute at a rural elementary school, the other as yet another entry on a list of dozens of active shooter scenarios in American schools. Together they illustrate a fateful contrast concerning what is required when safety measures break down.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent across the nation to fortify and prepare educational environments for the worst-case scenario. Schools run drills simulating protocols and methods for surviving active shooter situations, which provide the literal seconds necessary to save as many lives as possible. The reality those drills represent is a hard thing to process for students of any age, let alone for their teachers, so younger children often do not participate in them. Minot Public Schools Superintendent Mark Vollmer believes what is more critical is that the adults in the room be trained enough to recognize the situation, and instantly take the appropriate action.

“We try to deescalate, and be as prepared as we can be,” said Vollmer. “It depends on the situation. It comes down to maintaining composure.”

Vollmer said that the district made a point of being up to date and in adherence to the current recommendations from the North Dakota Safety Council in Bismarck. The specifics of those precautions are understandably kept a guarded secret, with staff and older students being updated annually on what actions they will take in the event of an active shooter or emergency scenario.

“We can have cameras, a lockdown policy. We take every safety precaution, but there is only so much you can do when someone comes barreling in with a gun,” Vollmer said.

Salvador Ramos was already being pursued by police when he crashed his vehicle into the entrance of Robb Elementary on Tuesday, May 24, having just shot his grandmother in her home. Ramos had left a trail of activity online in the days leading up to that fateful day, concluding with a Facebook post declaring what he intended to do.

A school resource officer in Uvalde attempted to engage Ramos, exchanging gunfire after he had entered the school. The 18-year-old would barricade himself inside a classroom and proceed to kill 21 people, most of them children. It would be reported later that responding officers waited outside the school while despairing parents and onlookers begged them to enter the building. Authorities waited anywhere from 40 minutes to over an hour before moving to enter the school.

There is a clear progression that each law enforcement officer must observe before taking certain actions. In Uvalde, the factors delayed the direct response of officers, who instead evacuated as many from the building as possible before moving in. Ramos was ultimately shot by border patrol officers, who gained entry to the classroom after a school staff member arrived with a key.

That was a calculation the deputy in Mott also had to make on April 21. Jeffery Ray Glover Jr., and his estranged partner Tiffany Glover were having a dispute over custody time when both arrived to pick up their youngest son from school. Jeffery Glover was witnessed by multiple school employees and students being loud and belligerent. The school administration had determined they couldn’t get involved in the dispute, so a deputy had been called to the scene.

In a series of memos released by the Hettinger County State’s Attorney Pat Merriman to The Minot Daily News, Merriman explained why no charges against the officer would be forthcoming and confirmed the deputy was lawful in his use of force. The memos laid out in great detail the entire sequence of events, including prior interactions between the two.

The school’s video surveillance system was malfunctioning that day, but consistent witness testimonies from the educators and individuals present corroborate what the deputy recollected in the aftermath. The deputy had attempted to reason with Glover after arriving, asking him to de-escalate and take their conversation elsewhere. Glover refused to comply, growing louder and more aggressive with each passing moment. Despite the deputy’s best efforts to mollify and calm Glover, the situation was inflamed by him gaining entry to the school.

Mott/Regent School District Superintendent William Thibault confirmed to The Minot Daily News that his staff had an in-service training “drill” for an active shooter situation sometime in November 2021.

“We go through it every year,” Thibault said. “Our goal is to keep everybody in our building safe.”

However, Thibault was emphatic that no students were exposed to the drill or its information. Merriman’s memo also indicated he had been informed students of Mott/Regent Elementary School themselves had never participated in any actual active threat drills, regardless of their age.

Even though school personnel broadcasted a lockdown, according to Merriman’s memo “people were not listening,” as they remained in the area, observing the scene. This lack of awareness caused a locked door to be opened for Glover by a group of third-grade students leaving the building. Glover’s mad dash inside forced the deputy to advance through the threat matrix governing the situation.

Glover resisted the two taser jolts, and shrugged off the deputy’s attempt to detain and cuff him. This resulted in a struggle, during which Glover cursed and shouted threats at his estranged partner, yelling down the hall that he was going to kill her. Glover would attempt to get his hands on the deputy’s weapons, leaving the deputy no choice but to fire a single time to protect the children and teachers present. The deputy performed life-saving measures on Glover and was involved the entire time as they waited for EMS to respond.

There was only one death that day, and it was determined by Merriman that the entire situation was created and escalated by Glover, rendering the deputy’s actions lawful, and putting to rest any internet speculation that the officer had unlawfully taken Glover’s life.

Thibault, who submitted his intent to retire to the school board last September after four years of service, said that every school he’d ever worked at had some sort of plan in place, and that Mott/Regent was no different.

The Hettinger County State’s Attorney office plans to meet with the district’s new superintendent later in the summer to detail a number of deficiencies discovered in the investigation.

Both Mott/Regent and Robb Elementary hinged on critical moments where officers and educators determined to what extent they would react. It’s hard to say exactly how these events could have played out differently, if any of a dozen things preceding the events had been noticed and reacted to more appropriately.

Such facts will be endlessly dissected by authorities and activists in the years to come.