As soon as I heard about the Navy Yard shooting in Washington D.C. this week I was sickened and appalled. I lived in that neighborhood for over a decade, and coming from a military family, I used venture on to Navy Yard a few times a month to do my banking at the Navy Federal Credit Union branch. I remain very fond my former Capitol Hill stomping grounds and my heart goes out to all my former neighbors who experienced the horrifying and tragic event. I also salute the police and first responders who risked their life to help the victims and subdue an armed madman.

Still, I am very troubled by the revelation that “for more than 30 agonizing minutes, Aaron Alexis stalked his human prey with a 12-gauge shotgun, eluding several attempts by law enforcement officers to gun him down.” That seems like an unacceptably long time, considering that Washington D.C. has some 34 different law enforcement agencies that could have been mobilized. And in particular, I’m troubled by the question: Why didn’t they send in the Marines?