NOTE: READERS SHOULD NOTE THAT THE ABSOLUTE ACCURACY OF THIS INFORMATION MIGHT BE IN DOUBT. WE'VE SEEN ASSERTIONS THAT MIGHT BE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT THAN THIS VERSION. THE RAPIDLY CHANGING STORY REGARDING LAW ENFORCEMENT'S RESPONSE PUTS A DISCLAIMER ON ANYTHING WE THINK WE KNOW AT THIS POINT (MAY 30, 2022).
It makes more sense now why the off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent fearlessly rushed into Robb Elementary School during Tuesday's active shooter in Uvalde.
His wife and his daughter were trapped inside the school.
According to published reports in the New York Times and the New York Post, agent Jacob Albarado had just sat down for a haircut at the local barber when he received a text from his wife, a fourth-grade teacher at the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school.
It's been noted that Albarado is a member of the elite BORTAC tactical team for the Border Patrol.
“There’s an active shooter,” she wrote. “Help,” she sent before sending a chilling: “I love you.”
He immediately leaped out of his seat, grabbed the barber’s shotgun and sped off toward the school.
His daughter, a second-grader, was locked inside a bathroom while his wife hid under desks with her students, the Times reported.
They were in a different side of the school in which the gunman had barricaded himself in one classroom.
News accounts have noted that Albarado arrived at the school and teamed up with other tactical officers on the scene.
A tactical team was preparing to enter the school when Albarado arrived. Desperate to get his daughter and wife out, he made a plan with other officers to try to enter the school and evacuate as many students as possible.
It appears that Albarado was covered by two other tactical officers as they cleared classrooms and evacuated students.
When Albarado finally saw his 8-year-old daughter, Jayda, they embraced, but he kept moving forward to bring more students to safety.
“I did what I was trained to do,” Albarado told the paper.
There does not seem to be more detailed information on how Albarado and his hastily-formed team actually counterattacked the classroom where the deranged gunman was. It is generally noted that Albarado was the one who killed the gunman putting an end to the hour-long ordeal.
Lessons learned:
Be decisive. Be committed. Your actions will reflect these qualities when you have a stake in the game.
Tactics trumps equipment. A shotgun. Borrowed from his barber. No ballistic shield. No high speed carbine with weapon mounted light and laser. A borrowed shotgun. Using his tactical training and knowledge, Albarado gained tactical superiority and ended the siege after an hour.
Save those who can be saved.
Stop those who need to be stopped.
As a side note -- I'm heartened to know that barbers in Texas keep a shotgun in their shop.