Nearly 400 law enforcement officers were at the Robb Elementary School during the Uvalde school shooting that resulted in the deaths of 19 students and two teachers, according to a new report.
An investigative committee from the Texas House of Representatives released a 77-page report regarding the police response to the Uvalde shooting on Sunday.
The report stated, “There is no one to whom we can attribute malice or ill motives. Instead, we found systemic failures and egregious poor decision making.”
The report regarding the May 24 massacre found “an overall lackadaisical approach” by federal, state, and local authorities at the deadly crime scene.
The investigators said there were “shortcomings and failures of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District and of various agencies and officers of law enforcement.”
There were 376 law enforcement officers at Robb Elementary School during the shooting – including 149 from the United States Border Patrol, 14 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and 91 from the Texas Department of Public Safety. There were also 25 responders from Uvalde Police Department, 16 from the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office, 16 from the San Antonio Police Department (SWAT), and five officers from the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police.
Despite the massive law enforcement presence, the mass shooter was not neutralized until 77 minutes after the gunman entered Robb Elementary School.
The committee’s report noted, “The attacker fired most of his shots and likely murdered most of his innocent victims before any responder set foot in the building. Of the approximately 142 rounds the attacker fired inside the building, it is almost certain that he rapidly fired over 100 of those rounds before any officer entered.”
The investigation also found that law enforcement disregarded their own active shooter training protocols.
“They failed to prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety,” the report said.
The committee also faulted better-trained law enforcement agencies for not taking leadership away Pete Arredondo – the former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police chief.
“In this crisis, no responder seized the initiative to establish an incident command post,” the committee report said. “Despite an obvious atmosphere of chaos, the ranking officers of other responding agencies did not approach the Uvalde CISD chief of police or anyone else perceived to be in command to point out the lack of and need for a command post, or to offer that specific assistance.”
The committee also discovered that school staff broke safeguards, such as leaving doors unlocked and propping them open with wedges or rocks.
(WARNING: Graphic content)
Exclusive Uvalde video shows school shooting, police in hallway after shooter entered classroom
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