DOJ report on Uvalde shooting cites 'cascading failures'
ABC News
The Department of Justice on Thursday released its report on the law enforcement response to the May 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
A scathing Justice Department report into the 2022 mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, described "cascading failures of leadership" and directs blame at responding officers for failing to confront the shooter sooner.
The review team "identified several critical failures and other breakdowns prior to, during, and after the Robb Elementary School response," the report found.
An 18-year-old gunman entered Robb Elementary School in May of 2022, killing 19 students and two teachers before law enforcement breached the classroom and killed the shooter. Responding officers from state and local outfits waited some 77 minutes before breaching a classroom and killing the shooter.
The police response came under scrutiny almost immediately, and a series of misstatements by officials in its aftermath compounded frustration within the tightly knit community. After initially lauding the bravery of first responders, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw called their performance an "abject failure."