Police officers approach the scene of a mass shooting with weapons drawn in a still image from surveillance video released by police in Dayton, Ohio, August 4, 2019. (Dayton Police Department/Handout via Reuters)

Security cameras captured the precise moment when Dayton police responded and gunned down the Dayton shooter. You can see the video below. It’s not graphic (except, of course, for showing a shooting):

We should remember the heroes after mass shootings, not the shooters. And these men were heroes.

History (and human nature) teach us that we can never, ever take courage for granted. Remember the video of Scot Peterson, the sheriff’s deputy who deliberately stayed in safety during the Parkland shooting? The mere act of donning a uniform and carrying a gun does not make a man brave. Our courage is defined when the gunshots are very real, when you have the choice of either doing exactly what every molecule of your body is screaming at you to do — run to safety — or do what your highest and best self is demanding — run to the danger.


These men ran to the danger to engage a shooter who was wearing body armor and wielding an AR-15, and they won. This is exactly what bravery looks like.