Mark Memmott. an NPR journalist who is one of the hosts of the NPR blog “The Two-Way,”  and his colleagues at NPR have done an outstanding job reporting this story. We’ll be checking back with NPR and other sources; it’s our hope to provide some context for these events, and what inferences and implications should be made and understood given the relative sophistication of the attack (we’ll explain why we think, in relative terms, this incident shows some signs of planning and sophistication) and the relatively low frequency of attacks in theaters, movie theaters,restaurants,  arenas – places where the are large numbers of relatively relaxed people.

In other words, a target-rich environment.

Some of what’s known at present :

• At least 14 people are dead, police say.
• 50 or so were reportedly injured.
• One suspect is in custody.
• The suspect has told police that there are explosives at his restaurant.
• Some witness accounts report smoke bombs being used by the gunman, and at least one witness reported the use of tear gas.

from Mark Memmott, Real-Life Horror: Many Killed, Dozens Wounded At Colorado Movie Theater, on The Two-Way blog, a  project of National Public Radio (NPR).

Aside from the horror which the survivors, victims and their families must wrestle for the rest of their lives; there are law-enforcement and societal challenges. The theater and the mall in which it is located has become a crime scene. Law enforcement must get the victims and the survivors out of the theater; they must get the wounded to hospitals. Law enforcement must also interview the witnesses. The largest, most flexible government-owned space is a local public school.

Should we harden schools for use in emergencies? If so, we must install emergency generators on each of the 93,000 K-12 public schools in the USA. If so, should those generating systems be a mix of solar, wind, hydro, and battery systems or should they be diesel. Diesel generators are cheaper but diesel fuel costs money. Solar, wind, hydro and battery systems are more expensive but use no fuel, and can be used all the time. If we use hybrid or electric school buses, then can we use the bus batteries to power the schools during a power failure?