The great compounding tragedy of the slaughter at Stoneman Douglas High School is that it could have been prevented and stopped, if only law enforcement had done its job.
It's not a shade of gray, it's a clear fail.
Federal and local police did not follow policy or best practices, and a monster was unimpeded by law enforcement either before or during his rampage.
This isn't about the gun debate, or school security, it's about cops who simply didn't do their jobs.
On four separate occasions, special agents of the FBI and deputies of the Broward County Sheriff's Office failed to follow their own procedure. And during the attack, when the armed and experienced school resource officer was the only thing between innocent students and teachers and a gunman, that officer went outside and hid.
For four minutes, as rifle fire sounded from the school, the 2014 Broward County school resource officer of the year was safely outside hiding behind something.
And it took his very political boss eight days to say so.
These are hard truths, especially for those who love and appreciate law enforcement.
But where much is given, much is required. And in this instance, not even the bare minimum was done.
The FBI, informed of an internet posting in which someone claimed to be an aspiring school shooter, made a perfunctory interview and pursued it no further. Contacted a second time, with specific information about the gunman's identity, address, armaments and intentions, the FBI did absolutely nothing.
No inquiry was made, no information was relayed, the eventual gunman was not interviewed.
The FBI simply blew it off.
Just like the Broward County Sheriff's Office.
In February 2016 and November 2017, deputies were given detailed tips from citizens that said the eventual gunman was a likely school shooter.
Nothing was done, even though the shooter was known to the sheriff's office and had been the subject of dozens of calls for assistance.
"See something, say something" from concerned citizens became, "Hear something, do nothing," with listless police.
And then, with all the warnings ignored, when the bullets began to fly, the Broward County deputy whose specific job it was to protect the school left the building and took up a defensive position outside.
While an unarmed football coach inside rushed the gunman and died protecting innocent children.
The number for a cop is 9-1-1. I don't know what the number for a football coach is.
Smooth-faced boys in Junior ROTC uniforms ran to the aid of frightened students while some spineless son of a bitch in a police uniform ran outside to hide.
A spineless son of a bitch who, by the way, had been an SRO for 27 years, was the state school officer of the year a couple of decades ago, and lived on school property for free in return for watching it.
And has made north of $100,000 a year.
Called on his cowardice, he filed the paperwork to start collecting his lifelong pension.
In this matter, the thin blue line took a powder, and 17 people are dead as a result.
And what's troubling is that this malfeasance, this failure to perform the most basic of duties, occurred in two separate FBI field offices and involved three unconnected deputies.
It wasn't one isolated dirtbag who blew off his responsibilities, it was at least five separate officers in five separate situations.
And there are 17 dead people, and a nation thrown into angry debate.
Because these cops didn't do their duty.
That's a hard truth. But it is the truth.
And it ought to be the cause of much soul searching by the American law-enforcement community.
US President Donald Trump (R) speaks with Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel (L) while visiting first responders at Broward County Sheriff's Office in Pompano Beach, Florida, on February 16, 2018, three days after a mass shooting that claimed 17 lives at a nearby high school. / AFP PHOTO / JIM WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)