by Frank Sharpe

Fortress Defense Consultants

Today my email and phone have been lit up with links and comments regarding the murder of a Roanoke, WV, television camera man, and the wounding of a reporter and woman she was interviewing, by a psychotic, “disgruntled” former employee of the station the news crew worked for.

The coward in question filmed the event, and sent it out via Twitter, along with a number of inflammatory accusations regarding racism and his recent firing. The video shows him approach his victims, and from a distance of about three feet, points a Glock handgun at the reporter for about 7 seconds. He then lowers it and mills around them for close to 20 seconds with the pistol still in his hand, most likely waiting for the cameraman to bring his lens back in from an exterior shot. The reporter, nor the interviewee, notice any of this; the cameraman is consumed with his view finder. The VCA fires 8 shots, striking all of them.

He was later found alive in his car with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, which he has since, gratefully, died from.

Comments to me have ranged from “hey, did you see this?” to analyzation of the events by my students and Staff on an amazingly astute level, and I appreciate all of it. I’ve done my own walk through of the video a number of times today, but the lessons are obvious and have already appeared in threads all over the net.

Instead of repeating the same old points, I’d like to comment about this on a more personal level.

I expect there will be shouts or whimpers about “gun control”, as there always are after such things. I’m sure there will be some discussion of race, and perhaps it may even add fuel to the fire of the issue. I’m sure every manner of comment, Monday morning quarterbacking, criticism, sympathy, question, and outrage will be voiced – Some of it constructive, most of it not. And I’m sure this will occupy the national conversation for at least the next day, or two, perhaps…

And, so be it. None of it will affect what I do or how I do it.

I will be armed and dangerous until the day my dead carcass is hauled off to the morgue. Defense of my life is my responsibility and mine alone. No politician, no talking head, no police personnel, no security guard, not any other citizen, and not a single one of my friends or family, own that burden – and the opinions of any on that list don’t enter into my security decisions. As long as I am lucid, and as long as my health allows, I will be providing for myself. I understand and accept that I am on my own – I’ve made the proper arrangements.

We recently settled on a school motto. It is: If not you, who?

The answer being: If not me, no one.

Evil doesn’t take days off.

-Frank