Eric Holder wants $15M to train against active shooters
WASHINGTON — In wake of two mass shootings this month, Attorney General Eric Holder urged Congress Tuesday to authorize $15 million for training state and local law enforcement officers to confront so-called active shooters.
"In the face of this urgent and growing threat – when the lives of innocent people are at stake – those who stand on the front lines need our full and unwavering support," Holder said in a video message posted on the Justice Department's website. "This critical funding would help the Justice Department ensure that America's police officers have the tools and guidance they need to effectively respond to active shooter incidents whenever and wherever they arise."
Six people have died and 16 others have been wounded so far this month in two separate shootings, one at Fort Hood, Texas, and another at a Jewish Community Center and retirement home outside Kansas City. In the Fort Hood case, the second in five years, a soldier opened fire on his colleagues before killing himself. A former Ku Klux Klan leader, meanwhile, was being held in connection with the murders of three in the Kansas shooting.
The incidents are part of a troubling rise in such cases, according to the Justice Department. Between 2000 and 2008, there have been an average of five active shooter incidents each year in the U.S. Since 2009, the annual average has roughly tripled, Holder said.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/04/15/holder-shootings-prevention/7728711/
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