That old woman with the purse, the one who hit him?  Her name is Ginger.  And that woman and her "may I help her" friend have more courage than any of the men in that room imo.

She was willing to lay down her life for them. 

And they watched.  Something I am not wholly unfamiliar with...though it was nothing near this.....http://lifehappens.joeuser.com/article/91671/And_they_WATCHED

You are correct about the ladies.  They are true heroes.  But in retrospect - and given the outcome, I think the Superintendent was accurate in his statement.  The guy was just looking to commit suicide.  That is the only way he could have fired at and missed everyone.

I don't care how he rationalizes not acting to protect a woman who was trying to save his life.  All those men are weak in my eyes.  Every single one of them.  (I know, like they care...lol)

Come on Really? I've heard the saying "never bring a knife to a gun fight". I'll go one step further and include a purse. This lady, good intentions and all (I'll give her that), could have potentially exasperated the situation further. The gun could have went off killing someone (IMO this guy wanted to die and if he really wanted to kill everyone in the room he could have...easily). So I'm going to go against the grain of everyone here and call BS on this woman channeling Ruth Buzzi in an Artie Johnson "dirty old man" sketch.

Ruth Buzzi sitting on the park bench, Artie comes shuffling up and takes a seat.

Artie -"Do you believe in the hereafter?

Ruth - "Yes I do"

Artie scooching closer - "Then you know what I'm here after"

Ruth hits Artie with her purse.

Ok, I will give you the other men. But not the superintendent!  He was in the cross hairs and trying to defuse the situation.  He had no chance to help the ladies as he was the focus (so in a way, he was the canary) of the gunman.

When someone is bore-sighting on your forehead, logic goes out the window and all that is left is training...the fellows behind the counter were at a tactical disadvantage...and psychological disadvantage, too.  In order to move when the purse struck, they would have to come out from the shelter of the counter they were behind.  Yeah, days and several viewings of the video later we can second guess what they should have done, but at the point of impact, even realizing that the man could very shortly walk around the end of the counter and drill everyone, it would be a hard thing to come out from what little cover was there.  Having said all that, I agree that when the lady hit him, it provided enough of a distraction that the fellas could have yelled, "let's git him"...and maybe they would have succeeded and maybe they would have caused him to blast away in earnest.  I think he was a confused individual and maybe all he wanted was someone to punch his ticket.  In the end, he was the only one who died...as it should be.  Politically motivated question here:  How would this whole thing panned out if a couple of the board members had been carrying concealed weapons?

CAll it what you like.  The fact is, that woman went back in and hit a man with a gun.  She didn't have any previous training...she left, she came back, she ACTED.

The gunman had his BACK to the men for several seconds while struggling with her....long enough for them to do SOMETHING.....

I'm sorry.  I think there is something wrong, at the root of our culture, that makes men act like such pussies.

4 planes on 911.  Only one we know of where the passengers decided to ACT.  Doesn't make their failure any less painful, but at least they went fighting. 

I thought the Superintendent was going to talk him to death, or debate him about taxes....someone points a gun at me and mine, they better kill me first.  Purse, toilet seat, whatever....I'm fighting.

I'm not arguing his sanity.  If you ask me it takes a total nut job to do what he did.  But nut job or not....he had a gun, he terrorized people with it...he got exactly what he deserved.

Wonder where Ginger got her training? lol

As for the political question.  I dunno.  I kinda wish Ginger was packin.  You can bet he wouldn't have slapped her to the floor, and the whole thing woulda been over in the first 90 seconds.

ya, but her actions could have very well got her killed.  I don't think what she did was smart.  Brave, yes, but not smart.  He was waving a gun over her.  She was darn lucky to be walking out of there vertical. 

if the men had rushed him with his back turned it probably would have turned ugly.  Somebody would have been shot since it's clear there were bullets in that gun he was waving around.  As it was all the men survived but the gunman. 

I agree with BFD..it's much easier to second guess after the situation.  I've been in a very scary situation when time stands still (when I was attacked) and had to think quickly.    None of us really know what we would do in a particular situation until we are faced with it.   

 My son who is here said he would have run out the door also.  They were asked to leave by a man waving a gun around.  When that happens you leave.   There were five men sitting at the table.  There didn't need to be six or seven hanging around. 

The only thing I saw that was cowardly really was that first guy who ran out leaving the women behind.  But in a way we've asked for this type of response from our men when we stared with the sissyfying  of them years ago.  We're trying to make our men to be more like women and then when they act like it we don't like it.    For the most part, men stopped being men some time ago.  You can thank your woman libbers for that. 

#1 - it was not a failure.  It was not a total success, but they did accomplish part of their goal.  The plane never found the hijackers target.

#2 - there was no reference for the other 3 planes.  We had had countless hijackings prior to 9-11 where almost no one was killed (except the hijackers).  I cannot fault someone for not acting when they had no reference to what was going to go down.  I think BFD said it best - Hindsight.  it is always 20/20

You know the cliche - there are loves and fighters.  Well, there are talkers and doers as well.  But think a moment.  What is this guy's occupation?  Remember the old cliche - "Those who can, do.  Those who cannot, teach".  He was a talker not a fighter.  But at least he gave his best shot at defusing the situation.  I will not say "if I was in his shoes" as I have long ago learned that what I SHOULD do is not always what I DO in a crises.  But yes, in hindsight, his talking did not amount to much.

And that's the point. She had none. It all turned out good, but it could easily have gone horribly wrong because of her actions. This article would have a different tone if he squeezed the trigger when struck and shot someone or if Ginger got killed. I'm all for people trying to assist, but in this case it accomplished nothing and luckily did no further harm. If she had a brick in her purse and knocked him out, I'd say then she thought it through. The woman definitely has courage, but action for the sake of acting is not very bright IMO. I'm glad her children are not attending her funeral this weekend. Sorry I can't get behind this woman being a hero of any sort.

Come on Tova, isn't that a little harsh? The first planes that hit the passengers most likely thought it was a hijacking. To my knowledge, the PA plane passengers were the only ones to learn the fate of the other three aircraft. If they had known perhaps none would have reached their targets.

They knew they would die regardless, but were going to do it on their terms not the hijackers. Ginger didn't know the fate of the assemblymen. She was not in danger until after she acted. Again, luck was on everyones side except the shooter.

Yes it is.  Sorry I get a little militant (ie emotional) when I don't feel well, heh.  But the point I was attempting to make is simple and isn't limited to 9-11.  When a bad guy tells you to do something, like 'be still and no one will be hurt', it is not worth the risk in the end to trust them to do the right thing.

Someone with a box cutter on a plane full of people could be overwhelmed with sheer numbers and a little planning.  Like, "Hey, when that guy passes, I'm gonna jump on his head, stick your leg out and trip him and the guy across the aisle will punch him in the balls."  (Knowing of course that someone may get cut, someone may die...but the odds of that happening are pretty high anyway...)

The alternative of sitting quietly and waiting for a man who obviously has every intention of harming (ie gun, knife) is crazy imo.  It seems so sheeple.  And some Americans are busting out of the mentality as we've seen in a couple cases since 9-11 like the underwear bomber.

Women are taught in self-defense classes to never ever ever "let" someone abduct them (ie, do as they're told by a bad guy with a weapon).  Don't let them take you to another location.  Fight, die where they try to grab you.  Never totallly capitulate to the bad guy.

That makes sense to me, and while not the same, has some of the same implications about making things hard for someone bent on harming people.  That guy stated flat out he was gonna die there.  A School Board Kamikaze.  Would you just sit in the back seat of one of their planes and wait to die?  Hope they'd change their mind?  Be rescued??

Again, I know it is not the same....not saying it is, but the "wait and see" reaction is not appropriate.

It's all good.  We'll just agree to disagree.  Technically she doesn't fit my idea of a "hero" because she didn't save anyone....but I prefer action over in-action any day, even if it turns out badly.  But that's just part of my personality. 

I believe a repeat of the 9-11 hijackings could not successfully be undertaken today, now that people know what's in store. Like I said I'm not opposed to someone taking action, just that they believe their actions might be successful. I don't believe Ginger gave much thought on what she hoped to accomplish.

No one can say who will act bravely in a scene of violence until that scene unfolds. Anyone who has experienced violence first hand can really know and appreciate the heroism of those who act bravely.