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| One bookkeeper’s calm, cool demeanor saved the lives of countless kids. Image by shaka |
Calm, cool, emotionally intelligent–all of those adjectives describe Antoinette Tuff’s response to the troubled man who intended to shoot up Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy, an elementary school in Decatur, Georgia, August 20, 2013.
Tuff, the school bookkeeper, called 911, relayed what was happening, and then personally negotiated with the intruder, Michael Brandon Hill, convincing him to lay on the floor, empty his pockets and go peaceably. Only after the crisis was over did Tuff break down in tears.
Antoinette Tuff’s response to the crisis situation illustrates several aspects of smart hostage negotiation, despite the fact that she is a bookkeeper by trade, and not a trained hostage negotiator.
Read the full article from DecodedScience.com [here].