A total of 376 officers converged on Robb Elementary School, more than the entire police force in a mid-size American city like Fort Lauderdale, Florida, or Tempe, Arizona. But for more than 70 minutes, not one stopped the shooter.
Amid the sounds of continuing gunfire emanating from the elementary school they waited. By the time they entered and killed 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, 19 children and two teachers were dead or mortally wounded.
It's not clear how many more people at Robb Elementary were shot while police waited, but the delay also meant more time before the wounded could get potentially life-saving care, he said following the Sunday release of a damning report from an investigative committee from the Texas House of Representatives that detailed the chaotic response.
From the beginning, the officers' tactics in Uvalde didn't match with most standard operating procedure, Shaffer said. Rather than advance together, one of the first three officers lagged behind the others and another halted. And among those early responders, two had long guns and a third had a handgun, which could have been enough firepower to confront the shooter quickly. "Those are great odds. I'll take those odds any day of the week," Shaffer said.
Criminal charges against officers could be possible but civil liability is more likely, Shaffer said. A handful of local officers have been placed on leave, including the acting Uvalde police chief and the school district police chief, but the overwhelming majority of the officers who responded were federal and state law enforcement. That included nearly 150 U.S. Border Patrol agents and 91 state police officials.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Uvalde report: 376 officers but 'egregiously poor' decisionsNearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to a mass shooting at a Uvalde elementary school, but “egregiously poor decision-making” resulted in more than an hour of chaos before the gunman who took 21 lives was finally confronted and killed, according to a damning investigative report released Sunday.
Read more »
'Systemic failures' in Uvalde school massacre, report findsNearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to the mass shooting that left 21 people dead at a Uvalde elementary school.
Read more »
Uvalde families to receive new report on police failuresReport’s findings expected to offer the most complete account to date of inaction by fully armed police officers during mass shooting in May
Read more »