School siege senseless

Doubtless, every parent of a school-age child was gripped by the images of the siege at a Bailey, Colo., high school Wednesday afternoon. For many people, it churned up memories of the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999, during which one teacher and 12 students were slain by fellow students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, who then took their own lives. Two dozen other students were injured.

The cases differed in that the 53-year-old gunman, Duane Morrison, apparently had no connection to Platte Canyon High School.

Armed with two handguns and a backpack he said contained a bomb, Morrison took six teenage girls hostage in a classroom, sexually assaulting some of them during the ordeal, authorities said. When a SWAT team entered the classroom, Morrison shot at officers and fatally wounded 16-year-old Emily Keyes with a shot to the back of her head. Morrison then committed suicide.

It is difficult to even fathom the terror the hostages must have experienced. For this to have happened at the girls' own high school, an institution that statistics say is relatively safe, is bone chilling.

If any good came from the Columbine massacre, it's that schools nationwide now have emergency preparedness plans in the event the unthinkable occurs. When the Bailey, Colo., siege commenced, students were ordered into their classrooms. Some time later there was an orderly evacuation of the school. The school district arranged for parents to pick up their children at a nearby elementary school.

Utah school districts continue to train staff for the worst scenario. School children participate in emergency drills so they, too, will know what to do. The heightened awareness has created an environment in which Utah students are encouraged to tell school administrators when they feel something is amiss. In recent years, a handful of threats to Utah schools have been foiled before they were carried out, which speaks well of the efforts of law enforcement, schools and students.

But there is no foolproof strategy.

The sad truth about school violence is that it leaves the victims' families and the larger community with so many unanswered questions. Because the hostage-taker in this case took his own life, his motives may never be revealed.

The only thing that makes sense is the plea of the family of Emily Keyes that people perform random acts of kindness and love in memory of their daughter and sister. In the wake of such unspeakable and senseless violence, there could not be a more fitting tribute to an innocent victim.