US Justice Dept says ‘critical failures’ in Uvalde school shooting response
Al Jazeera
Report cites failed communication and leadership in police response to mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.
Police failed in their response to the 2022 elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 children and two teachers, according to a US Department of Justice report.
The report cited “critical failures” and faulted law enforcement officers for waiting more than an hour to breach the classroom where the 18-year-old gunman was holed up with students and staff, leaving the children inside to make panicked 911 calls.
“The victims and survivors of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School deserved better,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on Thursday.
“The law enforcement response at Robb Elementary on May 24, 2022 – and the response by officials in the hours and days after – was a failure.”
The report released on Thursday, the most comprehensive federal accounting of the police response to the shooting, identifies a vast array of problems from failed communication and leadership to inadequate technology and training that federal officials say contributed to the crisis lasting far longer than it should have.
