One Texas Lawmakers’ investigation into the Uvalde school shooting that left 21 people dead has blamed “systemic errors” and poor leadership for contributing to the death toll, a report released Sunday said. Japan shows.
Texas House of Representatives Committee The investigation marks the most comprehensive attempt to date to determine why it took more than an hour for police and other officers to confront and kill the 18-year-old gunman at Robb Elementary School on Wednesday. May 24th.
The report found that the bottom line was that “law enforcement did not adhere to their active shooting training courses and they did not prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over the safety of their victims.” themselves.”
The 77-page report said 376 law enforcement officers rushed to the school in a chaotic scene marked by a lack of clear leadership and enough urgency.
“Apart from the attacker, the Commission did not find any ‘villains’ during the investigation,” the report states. “Instead, we see systemic failures and poor decision-making.”
“Leadership gaps can contribute to the loss of life as injured victims wait more than an hour for help, and attackers continue to fire their weapons sporadically.”
Mayor Don of Uvalde McLaughlin said in an emailed statement that the city had placed Lieutenant Mariano Pargaswho held acting city policy chief on the day of the shooting, on administrative leave.
Pargas did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
McLaughlin also on Sunday released camera footage of several city police officers who responded to the shooting, showing the mayhem and chaos of the scene.
Existences and failures
The report showed multiple failures at the school, noting that the 5-foot-high exterior fence around the school was unable to impede the gunman. There is also a “regrettable culture of non-compliance by school personnel” where exterior and interior doors are left unlocked or open. The gunman easily entered the school through an unlocked door.
The report also found that of the approximately 142 rounds the attacker fired inside the building, it was “almost certain” that about 100 of them were fired before any officers entered the school.
The report describes “the shortcomings and failures of the Uvalde Independent School District and of various law enforcement agencies and officers” and “an overall lack of seriousness” by the authorities. blame.
Part of that can be explained by communication errors.
Children inside the classroom where the murder took place called 911 and begged for help, but reports say no one can guarantee that responders making key decisions inside the building know about the incidents. call that emergency or “receive information that students and teachers have survived the initial explosion of gunfire.”
“No one in command analyzed this information to realize that the attacker was preventing critically injured victims from receiving medical care,” the report states.
Call for responsibility
The report also found that there was “falling off guard” on campus because of the frequency with which security alerts were issued as nearby police confronted traffickers carrying illegal immigrants.
Video released by the Austin American-Statesman last week shows police besieging a hallway for 77 minutes before they stormed into their classrooms and exchanged views with the gunman.
Authorities said in May that frantic children inside the classroom called 911 at least six times while officers waited in the hallway.
Representative Dustin Burrowsa Republican who heads the committee, said at a news conference Sunday that the goal of the investigation is to provide a factual basis on which lawmakers can make policy changes in future to make schools safer.
Burrows said the scope of the lawmakers’ investigation does not dive into exactly what individual officers at the scene knew and when – that will have to be discovered by individual agencies.
“If someone fails to do their training, if someone knows there is a victim in there who is killed or dies and doesn’t do more, I believe those agencies will have to find responsibility for those officers. there,” said Burrows.
Texas House of Representatives Committee The investigation marks the most comprehensive attempt to date to determine why it took more than an hour for police and other officers to confront and kill the 18-year-old gunman at Robb Elementary School on Wednesday. May 24th.
The report found that the bottom line was that “law enforcement did not adhere to their active shooting training courses and they did not prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over the safety of their victims.” themselves.”
The 77-page report said 376 law enforcement officers rushed to the school in a chaotic scene marked by a lack of clear leadership and enough urgency.
“Apart from the attacker, the Commission did not find any ‘villains’ during the investigation,” the report states. “Instead, we see systemic failures and poor decision-making.”
“Leadership gaps can contribute to the loss of life as injured victims wait more than an hour for help, and attackers continue to fire their weapons sporadically.”
Mayor Don of Uvalde McLaughlin said in an emailed statement that the city had placed Lieutenant Mariano Pargaswho held acting city policy chief on the day of the shooting, on administrative leave.
Pargas did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
McLaughlin also on Sunday released camera footage of several city police officers who responded to the shooting, showing the mayhem and chaos of the scene.
Existences and failures
The report showed multiple failures at the school, noting that the 5-foot-high exterior fence around the school was unable to impede the gunman. There is also a “regrettable culture of non-compliance by school personnel” where exterior and interior doors are left unlocked or open. The gunman easily entered the school through an unlocked door.
The report also found that of the approximately 142 rounds the attacker fired inside the building, it was “almost certain” that about 100 of them were fired before any officers entered the school.
The report describes “the shortcomings and failures of the Uvalde Independent School District and of various law enforcement agencies and officers” and “an overall lack of seriousness” by the authorities. blame.
Part of that can be explained by communication errors.
Children inside the classroom where the murder took place called 911 and begged for help, but reports say no one can guarantee that responders making key decisions inside the building know about the incidents. call that emergency or “receive information that students and teachers have survived the initial explosion of gunfire.”
“No one in command analyzed this information to realize that the attacker was preventing critically injured victims from receiving medical care,” the report states.
Call for responsibility
The report also found that there was “falling off guard” on campus because of the frequency with which security alerts were issued as nearby police confronted traffickers carrying illegal immigrants.
Video released by the Austin American-Statesman last week shows police besieging a hallway for 77 minutes before they stormed into their classrooms and exchanged views with the gunman.
Authorities said in May that frantic children inside the classroom called 911 at least six times while officers waited in the hallway.
Representative Dustin Burrowsa Republican who heads the committee, said at a news conference Sunday that the goal of the investigation is to provide a factual basis on which lawmakers can make policy changes in future to make schools safer.
Burrows said the scope of the lawmakers’ investigation does not dive into exactly what individual officers at the scene knew and when – that will have to be discovered by individual agencies.
“If someone fails to do their training, if someone knows there is a victim in there who is killed or dies and doesn’t do more, I believe those agencies will have to find responsibility for those officers. there,” said Burrows.
