Uvalde school shooting report says ‘systemic error’ by authorities
A scathing report released by the Texas House of Representatives committee Sunday investigating the Uvalde school shooting has blamed people in positions of power – including nearly 400 law enforcement people who have converged at the scene – for not stopping the massacre.
Preliminary report describes “Systematic failure and poor decision-making”: how the police disregard the department’s active shooting training, how the school district fails to fully adhere to its safety plan, and how the shooter’s family fails to recognize the warning signs in advance when in rage.
“With great insight, we can say that Robb Elementary School was not adequately prepared for the risk of a school shooting,” said Texas Representative Dustin Burrows, chair of the committee. , said at a news conference on Sunday.
The committee has held closed-door meetings over the past month to investigate Shooting killed 19 children and two teachers on May 24. Outrage spiked at the response of authorities, who waited more than an hour before breaking into a fourth grade classroom – even as frightened students called 911 for help.
The report—the most complete account of the chaotic response to the massacre—failed quickly: Lieutenant Mariano Pargas, an officer of the Uvalde Police Department who served as the city’s acting police chief in massacre, was placed on administrative leave after reporting. release.
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Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin also announced Sunday that the city will release body camera footage of Uvalde police officers involved in the Robb Elementary School shooting.
Austin American-Statesman, part of the US TODAY Network and broadcaster KVUE Exclusively obtained and released corridor surveillance video last week’s gunmen and law enforcement officials responded.
Families of the victims has received the commission’s report Sunday, according to committee Chairman Dustin Burrows.
‘Regrettable culture of school staff non-compliance’: What is the content of the report?
The nearly 80-page report details the many “omissions and failures” of the Uvalde school district and various law enforcement agencies and officers.
The document details the “regrettable culture of non-compliance by school personnel” in opening doors and breaking locks. Staff and students know that Room 111 of Robb Elementary School is particularly insecure and often has problems with locking – room investigators believe the shooter likely passed through.
Law enforcement responders failed to adhere to their own aggressive shooting plan and “failed to prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety.”
Uvalde Independent School District created its own police department in 2018 to oversee Uvalde’s public schools. But the district does not have a designated official for Robb Elementary School, the report said.
“With nine different schools and a budget for six police officers, Uvalde CISD oversees more campuses than officers,” it wrote.
In total, 376 law enforcement officers responded to the shooting. The majority of respondents at the school are federal and state law enforcement agencies, according to the report. Authorities include 150 US Border Patrol agents and 91 state police officials.
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The report cited breakdowns in communication at the scene and leadership confusion among police officers from the Uvalde Independent School District — but the fault of other law enforcement agencies.
The Uvalde Incorporated Independent School District’s written active-shooting plan says its chief of police – Pete Arredondo – should take command during an active shooting. Although he was one of the first responders to the shooting, “he did not perform or transfer to others the role of incident commander,” the report said.
But other police witnesses interviewed by the committee all suggested Arredo was responsible, or could not tell if anyone was responsible due to the chaotic scene.
“Despite the clearly chaotic atmosphere, senior officers from other response agencies did not approach the chief of police Uvalde CISD or anyone else considered commander to indicate the lack and need for a command, or specific offer. support,” the report read.
Although the full investigation has yet to be completed, the preliminary report provides initial details gleaned from the testimony of families and community members, many of whom expressed disapproval. disappointed description of conflict law enforcement around the shooting.
The report gathered information from interviews with 33 witnesses and 39 informal interviews, including administrators of the Texas Department of Public Safety, officers from the Uvalde Police Department, McLaughlin, and the Police Department. Chief of Staff Ruben Nolasco.
Changing the story of filming
Texas Governor Greg Abbott initially commended law enforcement officers for their actions during the shooting and praised their “incredible courage in running towards the sound of gunfire.” back to his statement after it was revealed that the officers waited over an hour after the school shooter burst into the classroom.
The day after the shooting, a Uvalde police lieutenant was at the scene supposedly to hold a briefing with state leaders, the report said. But the officer had fainted while waiting in the hallway earlier – in his place, the DPS South Texas Regional Director, Victor Escalon, held the briefing. But Escalon is not based in Uvalde and did not witness “much of the day’s events, leaving him dependent on stale knowledge,” the report said.
Officials later repeated misinformation from Escalon that the incident lasted only 40 minutes thanks to officers who were “courageous in stopping the attacker while the children were evacuated.”
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Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw called the police response a “huge failure” that put the lives of officers before the lives of children at a Senate hearing in June. McCraw blamed the school district’s sheriff, Arredondo, who commanded the incident, for preventing officers from quickly confronting the gunman.
More than 100 of the 142 rounds fired by the shooter inside the school were fired before officers got in, the report showed.
Another report obtained by Statesman this month – written by the Advanced Law Enforcement Agency Rapid Response Training Program and sought by the Department of Public Safety – shows a Uvalde police officer aim his rifle at the gunman before he enters the school but must wait for the permission of the supervisor to open fire.
The shooter has developed a ‘passion’ for school shootings, report says
The 82-page report said the shooter, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, was motivated by “a lust for fame and popularity.”
“Their relatives described the attacker as shy and quiet.
Initial school assessments showed he was falling behind academically and was identified as “at risk” in third grade because of his consistently poor test results. He only finished ninth grade at the age of 17. Uvalde High School accidentally withdrew his name in October 2021, “under the pretext of poor academic performance and lack of attendance.”
The report said the shooter had developed a “passion” for school shootings. He is active on social media, and most of his usernames and emails cover the subject of confrontation and revenge.
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According to reports, his frequent comments about school shootings have earned him the nickname “Yubo’s school shooter” on the French social networking app. People in his local group chat also started calling him “the school shooter.” He plays video games and is mocked by his fellow players with a similar nickname.
The FBI interviewed his ex-girlfriend, who said he was lonely, depressed and “frequently teased by his friends, who called him a ‘school shooter’.”
“She said he had told her several times that he would not live past eighteen, either because he was going to commit suicide or simply because he ‘wouldn’t live long,'” the report reads..
What does the hallway footage show?
Video obtained by Statesman and KVUE shows delayed law enforcement response.
In the video, officers paced back and forth in the hallway without entering or attempting to enter the classroom where the shooter was. Even when at least four shots were heard from the classroom 45 minutes after police arrived, the officers did not move to enter the room. They rushed into the classroom and killed the gunman an hour and 14 minutes after police arrived on the scene.
Law enforcement specialist who reviewed the video for Statesman called the police action “catastrophic” and “inexcusable.”
The Texas House of Representatives committee pushed for the 77-minute video to be released to the public, and the Department of Public Safety also wanted the video to be released, saying it would promote transparency without interfering with investigations. check.
Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busbee objected to the release of the video and asked DPS to keep it secret as investigations continue.
The video, which the House committee will make available to families and public on Sunday, will not include the gunman entering the school and the view from the hallway of the gunman shooting into the classroom. The video obtained by Statesman includes that footage.
Consequences, reactions to the release of the report
The city stops liberating police body camera The footage was directed at the direction of the district attorney, McLaughlin said, adding, “However, with the release of the school district’s hallway videos, we believe these body camera videos provide the additional context needed. .”
The audio and video were edited to protect the victims, and the families of the shooting victims were given the opportunity to review the video, McLaughlin said.
Family members of the victims in Uvalde received copies of the report on Sunday before it was made available to the public.
“It’s a joke. They’re a joke. They don’t have any businesses wearing badges. None of them do,” said Vincent Salazar, grandfather of 11-year-old victim Layla Salazar, of the individuals. law enforcement officer on Sunday.
In an hour-long question and answer session with reporters after the report was released, committee members declined to address policy questions such as whether lawmakers should restrict further assault weapons and who, if any, was responsible for what the committee found was a catastrophic and systematic incident.
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Burrows, chair of the special committee, also said that no community should assume it is safe or immune from violence and death having visited Uvalde on May 24.
“I think some of the similar systems we found here that were faulty that day were across the entire state and country,” said Burrows. Council members, Burrow added, “have strong opinions about changes to policy that need to be made.”
“Today is not the day we share our strong feelings and beliefs about it,” he said.
The lack of specifics on what steps are needed to better protect Texans from mass gun violence has frustrated many inside downtown Uvalde. Some shouted insults, including “cowards,” and asked “what about guns?” as submitted by the committee members.
“You are a bunch of cowards,” shouted Ruben Mata, who said his nieces were among the children killed. “We already know what’s in the report,” he told reporters a short time later.
Contribute: Tony Plohetski, Austin-American; Related press