AR-15 might have been really handy here.

It began as a quiet night...

The ordeal at the Nordstrom Rack store near Los Angeles International Airport began at about 11 p.m. when a man called 911 and reported that his girlfriend had called and said there were gunmen in the store, Lt. Andy Neiman said.

Police officers and special weapons team members swarmed the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center, an outdoor shopping center that also contains restaurants and a theater.

The super-duper "heavily armed" Special Weapons And Tactics from the super-duper amazing highly trained Los Angeles Police Department squad rolled up and took over the whole area. They had body armor, full-auto assault weapons, flash-bang and sting-ball grenades, and probably an armored car with a cannon on it. They got to the mall, surrounded it and... nothing!

SWAT members surrounded the location but weren't able to talk to anyone inside during the four-hour standoff.

Wow. Four hours without a peep, then they go in? What did they find?

When they finally burst into the store, they found hostages locked in a storage room and others in a bathroom, Neiman said.

The 13 women and one man were all believed to be employees because the store was closed when the robbery began, Neiman said.

One hostage was treated at the scene for a non-life threatening stab wound, Neiman said.

Another employee had been sexually assaulted, Neiman said, although he declined to provide details.

Yeah. It took the Super Squad so long to get there that the robbers had time to stab somebody, rob the place, stick all the kids in a "storage room" AND have a little fun with one of them, then scarper away like little bunnies. Clean getaway.
Then the Super Squad stood around looking dangerous for FOUR HOURS while the kids stifled in the closet. Good thing that "non-life threatening stab wound" didn't bleed much, eh?

So remember my friends, police are not there to save you. They can't, and as in this case even if they can they probably won't. They are strictly there to put on a show and clean up afterward.

No one is coming to save you. You are on your own.

Next time you see Piers Morgan on TV, remember the LA SWAT team waited FOUR HOURS in front of an -empty- store with wounded kids trapped in it.

The Phantom