In Hindsight...

As I am from the UK and guns are not anywhere near as prevalent here I don't have any experience with shootings or guns in general. I have been thinking a lot recently about Patti's decision to tell the kids to hide under the table when she heard the gunshots and can't help but feel she should of either told the kids to "Run in the opposite direction of the gunfire" or to smash the library windows and jump out. I can't help but feel that keeping those kids there they were simply sitting ducks.

There was a door propped open in the library too. There’s probably so many people who wish they would have done things differently that day.

That's incredible, I didn't know that about the door and a exit route being so accessible

It would have been too high to jump out the windows. There should be photos laying around to show exactly where the exits are. They lead to where Eric and Dylan shot Rachel, and that is where Patti originally saw Eric firing at her, so that could be a reason why she didn't tell them to go that way.

I've always felt a certain amount of agitation for the blame Patti receives, but none for the other adult assistants in the library who didn't come to Patti's aid.

What happened to the teacher who had originally gone into the library and said something like "We've got to get the kids out of here."?

spidEr wrote:

It would have been too high to jump out the windows. There should be photos laying around to show exactly where the exits are. They lead to where Eric and Dylan shot Rachel, and that is where Patti originally saw Eric firing at her, so that could be a reason why she didn't tell them to go that way.

You're right, when Patrick fell out of the window, they were standing on top of the ambulance I believe to catch him.

No one knows how they would react to that kind of situation. They were indeed sitting ducks in that library. BUT Patti did what she thought was the best thing at the time.  I'm sure she questions her decision every single day.

There are a lot of factors that validate that her decision was not necessarily wrong. It's a situation that not many people can imagine being in.

- Sending the students out through the external library exit would have been sending them out to where she'd seen Eric and Dylan shooting
- Getting them all out into the hallway would have also put them in the direction that Eric and Dylan were coming
- She didn't know how many active shooters there were. For all she knew there could have been other armed students/people in the school

If it were me, I'd probably have done the same thing to be honest

She did what she thought was best in the moment. She couldn’t have known they’d start shooting under the table.

Mr. Sanders quick actions saved many lives but he lost his own. I’m sure Patti has survivors guilt and always will.

Szabo wrote:

I've always felt a certain amount of agitation for the blame Patti receives, but none for the other adult assistants in the library who didn't come to Patti's aid.

What happened to the teacher who had originally gone into the library and said something like "We've got to get the kids out of here."?

There is no such thing as too high if you feel you are going to be trapped in a room with a gunman. Two broken legs are far better than sitting under a desk defenceless

1985j wrote:

Szabo wrote:

I've always felt a certain amount of agitation for the blame Patti receives, but none for the other adult assistants in the library who didn't come to Patti's aid.

What happened to the teacher who had originally gone into the library and said something like "We've got to get the kids out of here."?

There is no such thing as too high if you feel you are going to be trapped in a room with a gunman. Two broken legs are far better than sitting under a desk defenceless

There are a million woulda coulda shouldas in Columbine. What if the 20 some odd students leapt from the windows and landed upon each other in a giant pile in the parking lot, Eric and Dylan could have just as easily shot at the kids with the broken arms and legs trying to flee from their landing spots.

Even now when Atchison took to firing at that school, the instructions are to batten down and hide. No one knew Eric and Dylan were terrible shots.

Patti was terrified. She had no idea what to do. Poor woman couldn't even get up to shut the door she was so scared. I think she did what she could with what little time she had. I mean for all she knew she had been shot at that point in time already