That’s Odd

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ing response time. What happens next is where things kind of go awry.”

According to the footage, at least three officers, two carrying rifles, immediately moved towards the classroom door, crouching for cover. But instead of forcing their way into the classroom, they stayed outside until additional gunfire was heard.

“They’re right there. They’re receiving gunfire. At that point you just have to win the fight. You have to get in that room, and you have to eliminate the threat and that’s established doctrine,” Francis noted.

With their delay, the police officers “forfeit the chance for kids that are wounded, bleeding inside there, perhaps to be saved and more kids to be shot at that point. To me, that’s the biggest failure right there.”

Francis added, “The officers do turn their back to the door and they run down the hallway, and the shooter, if he wanted to, easily could have opened that door and killed all those officers. They simply turn and run away from the gunfire. It’s just unfortunate because at that point they lose all momentum.”

Ruben Ruiz, one of the officers who responded to the scene, is the now-widower of teacher Eva Mireles, who was one of the teachers killed in the shooting. Footage shows Ruiz looking at his phone in the hallway – his wife was saying she was dying, as he stood in the hallway holding his gun.

Ruiz was eventually removed from the building, after trying to intervene, State Rep. Joe Moody, one of three House Investigative Committee members looking into the law enforcement response, explained.

“He attempted to engage but was removed from the building and disarmed,” Moody said.

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) said the officer in charge was the school district’s police chief, Pedro “Pete” Arredondo. According to DPS, Arredondo misclassified the siege as a barricade situation, which – unlike an active shooter report – calls for a more measured response.

Arredondo, who said he did not consider himself incident commander and did not instruct officers to refrain from forcing their way into the classrooms, has resigned his seat on the Uvalde City Council.

Nap Boxes

Need to snooze on the job? Some offices in Japan are installing “nap boxes” for employees who need to catch some zzz’s.

The nap boxes are pretty unconventional-looking. They resemble a sleek, tall cabinet. Inside, workers need to stand for their nap, but there are places to support workers’ heads, knees and backsides so that they will not fall over.

Offices in Japan are known for overworking their workers. These sleep stations are designed for white collar employees who are known for logging excruciatingly long hours. Itoki communications director Saeko Kawashima is confident it offers a healthier solution for those wanting to take a quick nap during the day. “In Japan, there are a lot of people who will lock themselves up in the bathroom for a while which I don’t think is healthy,” they told Bloomberg News. “It’s better to sleep in a comfortable location.”

Sleepiness on the job in Japan is so widespread that the country has the phrase “inemuri,” which refers to those who sleep during the day in order to get through a long commute or full workday.

Japan has some of the longest working hours in the world. One in four companies require employees to work more than 80 hours of overtime each month, which is often unpaid, according to a 2016 government study.

“I think a lot of Japanese people tend to work continuously with no breaks,” Kawashima said. “We are hoping that companies can use this as a more flexible approach to resting.”

Nothing sounds flexible about forcing workers to sleep standing up in a box.