Tragedy in Atlanta

I've spent a good part of the day watching news coverage of the Atlanta courthouse shootings. WSB-TV, the dominant local news operation in that city, has excellent streaming video of its live coverage. CNN has been making extensive use of the WSB feed, enhancing their own coverage. For some reason, Fox News channel has been relying on pictures from WGCL, the local CBS affiliate. WGCL is something of a joke in the Atlanta market, and I can see why. At one point early this afternoon, the Channel 46 helicopter was panning wildly across the Atlanta freeways, as if they were trying to check every car from 3,000 feet.

As they discuss these tragic shootings, most of the talking heads have focused on courthouse security, and the challenge associated with protecting those inside. I'm sure terrorist groups are taking note, but the pundits, in passing, actually touched on an even more pressing security concern. In the wake of the Atlanta shootings, at least four schools in the area remained on lockdown in the early afternoon. Unfortunately, our schools represent an even more lucrative target for potential terrorist strikes, and comparatively little has been done to make them more secure.