TAMPA, Fla. _ On paper, Terry Strawn was the kind of person Hillsborough County officials had in mind when they needed more armed security in schools.
There were 176 public and charter elementary schools that would need armed protection under a new state law responding to the Feb. 14 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School killings in Parkland.
Announcing their school safety plan on May 10, Sheriff Chad Chronister and Hillsborough County Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Eakins laid out daunting statistics: Gaps in coverage meant they would need 101 more officers, with just three months before the 2018-19 school year would begin.
Their ideal candidate, Chronister said, was "someone with a passion for service. Someone who understands the significance and priority of making our children safe." He noted that two-thirds of the school district's own security officers were retired law enforcement, "and bring a wealth of institutional knowledge."
Strawn fit the bill. He was a one-time "Officer of the Year" who retired two years ago from the Sheriff's Office after a 25-year career. He passed the required psychological screening and this fall took a post at Valrico Elementary, where his 6-year-old granddaughter was a student.
On Wednesday, Strawn used his handgun to kill his wife, daughter and granddaughter, and then himself near Plant City High School.
"There was no indication whatsoever that would lead a prudent and reasonable person to believe that this deputy would ever conduct himself in the manner that he did," Chronister said Wednesday.
Law enforcement and lawmakers are now grappling with questions after Wednesday's tragedy, many similar to ones they faced after Parkland. Was it a complete fluke, or was it the unintended result of state lawmakers' decision to employ an armed response to the threat of guns in schools?
And then there's this: What if Strawn's rampage was directed at the elementary students he was sworn to protect, instead of his family?
"This also just convinced me that more people in schools with guns is not the answer," Fred Guttenberg, the father of 14-year-old Parkland victim Jaime Guttenberg, tweeted Wednesday night.
But Senate President Bill Galvano, the sponsor of this year's gun and school safety bill, said it's too soon to draw conclusions. He said lawmakers wisely required a background check and psychological screening of new armed guards, though he added: "You're not going to catch everything."
"For me it corroborates that we need to have the adequate and strict screening going forward," said Galvano, a Brandon Republican. "This incident is random in nature and we're going to learn more about the real motivation."
