A Cop Who Responded to a Deadly School Shooting Explains Why He Now Trains Teachers to Carry Guns

‘Cops are not the first responders. It is the people there, the civilians’

Quinn Cunningham has 23 years of law enforcement experience including 17 years with a Colorado SWAT team, in which he is currently a team leader. He was one of the first responders to a deadly 2013 shooting at a high school near Denver. Since 2015, he has been actively training teachers to carry inside their schools.

During the most recent three-day FASTER Colorado training course for teachers, where Cunningham was one of four active-duty law enforcement officer instructors, he shared his experience and worldview with the Washington Free Beacon. Although Cunningham is prohibited from disclosing the identity of the school or students involved in the attack by his agency's policy, the timing and details point to the events at a high school in suburban Denver.

The story began just before 12:33 p.m. on Dec. 13, 2013, when an 18-year-old student entered Arapahoe High School with a pump-action shotgun and a bag full of Molotov cocktails. As he opened fire, the call for help went out to local law enforcement. Cunningham was among the massive number of police who responded to the attack.

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