Bikers Heard Gunshots at Elementary School and Ran In While Cops Waited Outside

The bikers were getting coffee next door when the first shots echoed from the school.

Seventeen members of the Patriot Guard Riders had stopped at Murphy’s Diner, right beside Riverside Elementary.

We were heading home from escorting a fallen Marine to his final rest when the unmistakable sound of gunfire cracked through the morning air.

Not fireworks. Not a car backfiring. Anyone who’s served knows that sound.

I’m James “Hammer” Sullivan, 64 years old, two tours in Afghanistan, and I was first out the door. Behind me, my brothers didn’t hesitate. We ran toward what everyone else would run from—because that’s what we’ve always done.

The first police car was already there. Officer Bradley, young kid maybe 25, was crouched behind his cruiser, radio in hand. “Waiting for backup!” he screamed at us. “Active shooter protocol! Stay back!”

“How many kids in there?” Big Tom demanded.

“Four hundred, maybe more—you can’t go in! That’s an order!”

Spider, who’d lost his grandson at Uvalde, was already past him. “Your order ain’t worth those kids’ lives.”Continue reading…