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rlesgal

Beach Lover
Jun 27, 2009
107
8
Freeport
Although assistance was appreciated, we hope next time officials will remember that there are 2 schools in Point Washington behind Bay Elementary and that they deserve the same swift response.

The rangers at Eden State Park were not in the loop.
.

Pt. Washington Preschool and Montessori were responded to in the same swift motion that Bay Elementary received, thankfully. There was a light-hearted moment when the Deputies referred to the 'Monastery' school! We are thankful for all the response to the situation.

:love:
 

Minnie

Beach Fanatic
Dec 30, 2006
4,344
829
Memphis
Mr. Huettel's moving account of recent events is especially poignant given the fact that he was the only civilian fired upon throughout this ordeal. That he can find it in his heart to feel compassion for lost soul who threatened his own safety speaks volumes for his character. I do not know Mr. Huettel, but it is obvious to me that he does more than simply attend church on Sundays; he lives his faith. Which I find both refreshing and inspirational. Thank you, Mr. Huettel.

Mr. Huettel in addition to being a talented writer is a very gifted artist. He was; as he stated a former Memphis police officer and attended Christian Brothers High School and Christian Brothers College here.

CBHS is known for graduating men of honor. He has given much to the city and the state and CBHS and CBU in the way of donated artwork.

He shared this thought about his days at CBHS.


"Life has been very abundant to me," Huettel says, "and I'd love to share its gift with the Christian Brothers who instilled a value that I can never hope to repay."

He is a wonderful neighbor to have.
 
Last edited:

Kurt

Admin
Staff member
Oct 15, 2004
2,233
4,925
SoWal
mooncreek.com
Pt. Washington Preschool and Montessori were responded to in the same swift motion that Bay Elementary received, thankfully. There was a light-hearted moment when the Deputies referred to the 'Monastery' school! We are thankful for all the response to the situation.

:love:

Not true. Who is "we" and where do you get your information?
 

rlesgal

Beach Lover
Jun 27, 2009
107
8
Freeport
Not true. Who is "we" and where do you get your information?
I work at PWUMC but it was my day off, I heard nothing but good reports from those that were ACTUALLY there. Nothing negative was spoken to me about the response time or the sheriff's actions.
:love:
 

30ashopper

SoWal Insider
Apr 30, 2008
6,846
3,471
56
Right here!
We have all had an awful weekend. I have to admit that we didn't have any charitable thoughts for this guy while he was alive- when you have a small child holed up in a room with the blinds drawn and the adults are peering through the blinds, it gets just a little bit weird. A neighborhood get together to just get to know all who were involved will be a great thing for all of us.

I never thought I would ever be in this type of situation again- it happened to us right outside of Louisville with a domestic dispute. SWAT team, the whole thing. Today was a bit more intense with the resolution happening 2 lots up from my house. I am just hoping to sleep tonight- we are tired, as I imagine the law enforcement people are too....

As far as judging the WCSO and other law enforcement goes- armchair quarterbacking is always really easy. Those of you judging and commenting have no idea.

After reading through this entire thread I would hope no one was judging Walton County poorly. My goodness, I've lived in big cities where stuff like this happens often and it's an absolute cluster every time. AFAICT, from all the posts about automated phone calls and cordonded off areas, blocked off roads, officers searching on foot, and cops hanging around out of uniform trying to catch this crazy guy - all I can say is, job well done! This was apparently a very rare occurance for SoWal and as we all know too well these situations tend to get completely foobar'd rather quickly. I never would have thought a small rural police force would have handled things so professionally. Kudos to Walton County Sherrifs Department!
 

Kurt

Admin
Staff member
Oct 15, 2004
2,233
4,925
SoWal
mooncreek.com
I work at PWUMC but it was my day off, I heard nothing but good reports from those that were ACTUALLY there. Nothing negative was spoken to me about the response time or the sheriff's actions.
:love:

Thank you. I'm not sure exactly how events went down at your school. It was a job well done overall, except for the fact that there there was 1 or 2 schools in SoWal which agents in charge didn't know about.

I only bring it up in hopes that it will prevent similar in the future. A teacher at SWMA was called by a parent from Bay who reported that Bay was in lockdown with an armed guard out front. No official calls, automated or otherwise were received at SWMA. It was learned today that SWMA was not registered in the 911 system.

It was about an hour and a half later that a deputy showed up at the "monastary school" (maybe the source of the point washington "cult school" rumor from last year?)

After Bay was evacuated, officials in charge learned there was more than one school in the area, they turned three buses around and sent them to PWUMC and SWMA. After a bit of directional difficulty, the buses arrived and WCSO, FWC, ATF, and Bay County Beach Patrol got everyone out safely. All's well that ends well. Hopefully lessons were learned.
 

AliKat

Beach Comber
Jul 26, 2007
30
14
My child also attends PWUMC and I heard nothing but good things. I think that it is especially amazing that everything went so smoothly because they just opened their doors that week. Reaffirms my faith that I am leaving my children in the best hands everytime I drop him off. Thanks to all the staff for staying calm, cool and collected and keeping our babies safe. :clap:
 
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